Peru’s newest plow truck, which had just been paid off, sits Friday outside the town garage on Peru Center Road after fire leveled the building and burned four other plow trucks inside late Thursday night. Due to the extensive damage, a cause may never be known, a state fire investigator said. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times
PERU — The Maine Department of Transportation is readying two trucks for the town to use this winter, according to a posting on the town Facebook page. The trucks will be ready Wednesday.
Peru’s four snowplows were destroyed by a fire that leveled the highway garage on Peru Center Road late Thursday night. The newest plow truck, which was just paid off, was outside the building but also burned.
The damage is estimated at over $1 million.
A special town meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Dirigo Elementary School, 117 Auburn Road, to vote on whether to take up to $200,000 from surplus to cover the cost of the equipment lost in Thursday’s fire. Meanwhile, the town will work through its insurance coverage.
The town plows 72 lane miles of road, Road Commissioner Brad Hutchings said last week.
The estimated 35- by 60-foot wood-frame building with metal roof was built in 1993.
Chris Stanford, senior fire investigator with the Office of State Fire Marshal, said Friday that pinpointing a cause will be very difficult because of the extensive damage.
Any town that can assist with a plow vehicle is asked to contact the Peru Town Office at 562-4627.
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