Southport Fire Department

 

In July, the Southport Island Association honored the contributions to the Town of the Southport Fire Department. Chief Gerry Gamage gave a short history of the Department from which some of the following is taken.

In April of 1927 there was a severe fire on Dogfish Head. The Boothbay Register reported about the fire in the West Southport Column, quite likely written by Charlie Pinkham:

 Well, old Southport has received her licking by fire at last. On Saturday last by the dropping a match after lighting his pipe, one of our newcomers of late set the most destructive fire this town has ever had. And if it had not been for the quick response of our neighboring towns, Boothbay Harbor, East Boothbay and Boothbay Center with their fire engines, the Town would have suffered a larger loss and many thanks we all of Southport wish to send to them for their noble work they rendered us in time of need. And we think it is about time for us to wake up to this much needed fire protection. We are having some very valuable cottages built which we ought to protect from loss by the carelessness of our smokers who give no forethought for anyone but themselves. There ought to be a heavy fine against anyone who sets a fire. This fire took one of our town’s oldest land marks by burning flat the late W. T. Maddocks house and stable. It also burned another cottage that was partly built by the caretaker, Henry Gaudette. Benjamin  Maddocks of Portland arrived in town just in time to see his old home place go up in smoke. Part of the furniture was saved.

 

The Museum’s booklet Historical Gleanings gives a slightly different story:

 

Saturday, April 16, 1927, dawned clear and calm. Fred Atkinson, who owned the old Orne homestead, now Mrs. Stranahan’s, at the head of West Southport Lobster Pound was burning dead grass in his yard. A southwest wind sprang up without warning. Before he could extinguish the wildly burning grass, the fire had reached the adjoining Maddocks land. The freshening sou’wester quickly drove it toward the homestead on the hill, back and west of the Tenggren home. It consumed the house and barn.

Because the road at that time traveled a route, now discontinued, over a bridge at the lobster pound [and then along the shore of Ebenecook, Ed] there was no fire break through the woods. From then on, it was an uncontrolled forest fire, driven northeast before the wind, until it burned itself out on the shore of Ebenecook.

 

At a Town Meeting less than two weeks later, on the 29^th of April, the Town voted to buy a fire engine and to set up a Fire Department with thirty-five charter members.  

The first engine cost $7,000 and its purchase was overseen by a Committee of Charlie Pinkham, Sumner Rand and Howard Thompson. It was a brand new 1927 Cosmopolitan La France with 1,000 feet of hose.  Today a fire engine costs around $300,000!  

The current fire house stands on land that was bought from Emma Pierce around 1930 for $50. There were two school buildings that stood just east of the current Hendricks Hill Museum and one of these was moved to become what is now the right hand section of the Central Fire Station. The other became the beginning of the current Central School.

In the beginning, a fire would be reported to Charlie Pinkham at the store [what is now the Island Store] and Charlie and the 17 year-old, Leland Snowman would respond. Later around 1932 there was a whistle signal that would blow a certain number of blasts to alert people as to where the fire was; two for East Side, three for Newagen etc. There was also a “red phone” system whereby five or six phones, all with the same number, were placed at strategic houses around town: the store, the fire house, the bridge, Gus Pratt’s Alley, Stanley Orchard’s house, and Howard Thompson’s house, so that a fire could be reported to all these places at once. The whistle could be blown directly from a button at the store or at the Orchard house so no trip to the Fire House would be required.

Often there isn’t a good supply of water right at the fire scene and it became necessary to have tank trucks that would carry water. One system that is currently used is to have a drop tank, a sort of portable swimming pool, into which a tanker truck can dump water and then run back for another load while the pumper uses the water in the drop tank. A tanker truck can dump 2,000 gallons into the drop tank in a minute and a half! This proved particularly effective in the Ocean Gate Fire of June 23, 1993. Between our Department and Boothbay Harbor over 75,000 gallons of water was hauled. Currently the Department has 5,000 gallons of water on wheels ready for immediate use.

If the fire is close to the ocean, a pumper can pump salt water, but often the ocean is too far away.

Leland Snowman was one of the charter members in 1927 and was on the roster when he died in 1999. In his book, Life As It Was In Newagen, he describes several of the more memorable fires. One of the most remarkable was the Tar Truck Fire of May 22, 1930. Leland writes:

 Another call came in that there was a fire on the Newagen road. We went in the engine. We could see smoke ahead. It was a tar truck. The back of the tar truck was on fire and the driver was afraid to stop. We were able to get him stopped and put the fire out with foam sprayed over the back of the truck.

Charlie Pinkham describes it in the Department log, a copy of which is in the Museum, as follows:

A black smoke was reported from Cosy Harbor. It seemed to be up behind the Nellie Pierce place. I could not see the smoke, so I sent my truck (probably driven by Leland) to see what was going on. My truck driver saw some burning burlap along the sides of the highway. At the Burnt Piece Hill he met Eleeza Giles galloping his team. He reported the tar truck on fire. My truck came back. We took the engine, caught up with the tar truck at the dirt pit halfway to Newagen. The pumping engine on the rear of the tar truck had caught. This in turn caught the wind break which ignited the rear tires. The driver was running the truck to keep the flames from under the tar and to reach the dirt pit to use the dirt to extinguish it.

Charlie describes another fire with perhaps the best dressed firemen ever:

Nov 22, 1929 House at Jameson Bros Lobster Pound at 11:50 PM.  The call came from the keeper, Stillman Porter. Stillman was awakened by his dog, the house was filled with smoke. He rushed to the phone. As soon as he knew he had made himself clear, and I understood where to go, he grabbed the phone box, ripped it out of the house. On arriving, I found the attic full of smoke and blaze. Being alone I got the booster stream on this blaze and about the time the booster was empty one or two firemen arrived and we then dropped the suction into the well then about the time the well was empty we had more firemen on hand as the fire was now so near the pound we did not dare try to get water, risking the end of the house falling on us. So we run 1,000 feet of hose over to Grover’s shore. We saved enough of the ell part of the house for Jameson to have an end built on. You understand we had no whistle at that time to arouse the firemen, but a dance at the Town Hall was over at midnight. On the way home, the firemen found the firehouse open and the engine gone so checked at Pinkham’s. Then Pinkham, all alone at the fire, began to have the most dressed up fire company arrive to help that you would care to see. The house was cleaned out of furniture including the kitchen stove with a good coal fire all going. The firemen after getting the fire under control turned their minds to the thoughts of food. It was now daybreak and very frosty. A dish of water, some coffee, a few cans of soup, some eggs, a good coal fire was all the men needed. Soon hot coffee, soup and boiled eggs were being served.

Leland writes of the same fire:

One of the coldest fires that I went to was at the east side lobster pound. Most of the firemen had been to the Grange Meeting. Everyone was in their dress clothes. The temperature was nearly zero when the call came in. It was near midnight and just driving the engine was cold. The first fire engine had no windshield, roof or cab. There were no boots or oilclothes, not even a pair of mittens on the engine. The fire engine was pumping water from the lobster pound. It was so cold that water in the hose started to freeze. We saved the ell part of the house.

It wasn’t all work and no play. Leland writes the following trip to Boston. The Old Howard House was a famous burlesque house in Scollay Square, now long since demolished, but famous for the vaudeville shows and the scantily-clad ladies.

Some of the firemen wanted to go on a trip to Boston to see a baseball game. We had money that we had earned. Fifteen firemen signed up to go. We stayed two days and nights. We made arrangements to stay at the Copley Plaza Hotel. Arthur Race of East Boothbay was the hotel manager.

We were going to eat out for most of our meals, see a baseball game and go see a show at the Old Howard House. We had planned on using the money we had brought from home, but Arthur paid for most of the trip. He changed our tickets at the ball game to better seats and we all got to set [sic] together. We got front row seats at the Howard House, and also if anyone wanted to go to the movies there were free tickets. We were treated to a steak dinner in the hotel’s main dining room with bar service to the eight rooms that we had. We had only planned on one ball game but were treated to two. We came home with most of the money we had taken, These are the members who went on the trip as far as I can remember: Jason Thompson, Cliff Buck, Norman Gaudette, Fred Orne, Ed Childs, Leland Snowman, Albert Plummer, John Copp, Walter Alley and Warren Payson.

It was not always fires to which the Department responded. Charlie Pinkham records that on August 22, 1937, “12 Mid – 2 AM. Miss Delia Collier lost in woods at Newagen. Searched two hours covered woods within a mile of Newagen. No trace. She came out at daybreak.” Eight men were involved in the search.

One of the more dramatic fires was the Squirrel Island Inn that burned on September 28, 1962. The fire was discovered by Douglas Pinkham, the Island caretaker. He called the Boothbay Harbor Department and was told that since Squirrel Island was part of Southport, it was Southport’s responsibility and that if Southport wanted Boothbay’s help, they should ask. Pinkham promptly called Cecil Pierce, the Southport Chief, and both Boothbay and Southport promptly responded, Boothbay getting there first. The fire started in a cottage near the Inn and promptly spread. By the time the two Departments got onto the scene, the fire was well ablaze. Boothbay got there first and had hoses on the west side of the Inn. The Boothbay Register reported:

Douglas Pinkham, met the Southport crew at the dock in the island truck and advised Cecil Pierce that water was needed on the east side of the fire. Boothbay Harbor had already set in the west side. Pinkham transported Pierce and his crew to the windward shore, but the easterly gale was making the water too turbulent to pump as seas were breaking over both men and pumps. Thus the men were required to shift to the beach on the other side of the island.

They ran five streams through the night and well into the afternoon, a total of 28 hours. Southport remained until about 3 PM. Chief Pierce reported that extinguishment of the fire involved over 700 man-hours with some men continually on the job for over 30 hours.

Ralph Spinney reports that the east wind was so strong that boats returning to Boothbay Harbor had to hug the Ocean Point and Spruce Point shores to keep in the lee. Surely in such conditions there was no chance to save the Inn.

The Department averages around eight fire calls per year. There are 42 current volunteers about 30 of whom are very active. Each firefighter has a specialty and fighting a fire is a real team effort. There is a lot of time necessary for training. It is a Department of which the Town can be justly proud.

 

Museum Boatshop Addition Update

 

For several years, the current boatshop that was built in 1992 has been filled to overflowing with boat gear and various farming equipment.

After considerable discussion, the Trustees decided to build a 20 by 22-foot addition to the current boatshop with an additional 10 x 12-foot display area.

The current boatshop has a truss-supported roof that leaves no room for storage, while the new addition has regular rafters, leaving an attic for storage. This attic is accessible through a pull-down stairway.

In last year’s appeal for membership, you donated nearly $3,000 in funds allocated towards the cost of this new addition. The Trustees have agreed to pay for the materials while the Friends will pay for the labor. The total cost will probably end up around $25,000 so the $3,000 will help considerably towards the Friends share.

The Southport Fire Department restored an old hose reel that had been stored at the Newagen Inn. This consists of a pair of wooden-spoked wheels about 5 feet in diameter and a reel that rotates on the same axis. About 1,000 feet of fire hose can be stored on the reel and easily wheeled to the scene of a fire. Matt Thibault, Jeff Brown, Henry Berne, Fred Webster and Ted Lingard have worked hard to clean up and repaint the reel. It will be on display next summer in the new addition.

The Friends are grateful to Trustee Bob Eaton who did the design work for the addition and to Gerry Gamage who did the carpentry. The added space will allow us to display more of our collection more efficiently.

 

Tax Assessment

 

The following proclamation was given to the Museum by the late Bill Danforth and is a framed document about 20 inches square. It requires the town of Townsend to contribute 0.05% of the Maine State budget for the year 1848. One wonders how this compares to Southport’s current share of the State budget.

The entire Boothbay region was originally called Townsend, but became Boothbay in 1764. On February 12, 1842, Cape Newagen Island (the current Southport) separated from Boothbay and was incorporated as Townsend, but due to the confusion of Boothbay having used the name Townsend previously, the name was changed to Southport in 1850. Hence the following 1848 proclamation is directed to what is now Southport:

TAX FOR THE YEAR 1848

State of Maine

Moses McDonald, Treasurer of said State

 

To the assessors of the town of Townsend.

In obedience to a law of this State, passed the thirteenth day of July, 1847, entitled “an act to apportion and assess a State tax of two hundred thousand eight hundred twenty dollars and seventy-six cents:”

These are in the name of the State of Maine, to require you to assess upon the polls and estates of said town the sum of  

ninety four dollars and sixty six cents, $94.66,  

being its proportion of Said tax. And you are required to assess in dollars and cents the sum so charged, according to the provisions of the tax law, approved April 5, 1845, and the fourteenth chapter of the Revised Statutes; and to add that amount of such tax to the amount of county and town taxes to be by you assessed in said town.

You are likewise required to make a fair list of your assessments, setting forth in distinct columns against each person’s name, how much he is assessed for polls, how much for real estate, and how much for personal estate, distinguishing and sum assessed to such person as guardian, or for any estate in his or her [Editor’s emphasis] possession, as executor, administrator or trustee, and also insert in such list the number of acres of land which you have assessed to each non-resident proprietor, and the value at which you have estimated the same. And such list or lists when completed and signed by you or a major part of you, you are required to commit to the collector or collectors, constable or constables of said town with your warrant or warrants, in due form of law, requiring them to collect and pay the same to the Treasurer of State, on or before the first day of January, 1849. And you are also required to return a certificate of the name or names of such collector or collectors, constable or constables, with the sum which they may be required to collect, to said Treasurer, some time before the first day of December next.

 

HEREOF YOU ARE TO FAIL NOT

 

Given under my hand and seal at Augusta, the first day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.

 

Moses McDonald, Treasurer

 

Annual Meeting

 

At the annual meeting in June the Friends elected new officers and directors. Marion Bradley retired as Treasurer after eleven years of devoted service. Her diligence and accuracy in keeping the books has been of top grade. Happily, Joyce Duncan has agreed to do the Treasurer’s job after having served for ten years as President. Her presidential accomplishments include the gaining of a 501c3 status for the Friends, the annual Volunteer Luncheons, the organization of docents so one person (thank you Maria Doelp!) is charge of being sure that a docent is always on hand to help the indefatigable Ron Orchard, her annual letters of appreciation to docents and a constant flow of good ideas that have energized us all. Dick Snyder has moved from Vice President to President and Shelby Kaider has taken the Secretary’s job from Leanne Eaton who has kept the records for eight years. Well done, Leanne! Kathy Bugbee was elected to serve as a new Director.

After these preliminaries, Rick Conant gave a talk on the Life and Times of Cecil Pierce. Cecil was born in 1906 and throughout his long life he was a fisherman, a mechanic, an inventor, an historian, a moving force in the Hendricks Hill Museum and a friend to all who knew him. Rick described Cecil’s relationship with Colonel George Patton (later General Patton) whose schooner suffered engine trouble in Oven’s Mouth, as well as Cecil’s inventive skill in designing carbon fiber/bamboo fishing rods which were sold world wide at about $1,000 each! Sarah McGrail has a good description of Cecil’s World War II work on page 239 of her Southport, The War Years. The original boatshop is dedicated to his memory.

We are more than grateful to Rick for his fine presentation. Rick adds the following notes.

 

Cecil Pierce

Rick Conant

 

Last June it was my pleasure to address the Southport Historical Society at your June Meeting. As you may remember, my talk was on our good and departed friend and member, Cecil Pierce. The meeting at the Town Hall was well attended and I thank you all for your interest and your presence there. I haven’t yet to catch myself on Channel 7, but one of the cashiers at Irving Gas said that she had seen me on that channel a month or so ago! It’s nice to be remembered. Somehow thoughts of Cecil keep cropping up:

Left out of my talk were several bits that you should know. As you may have guessed, I could have added another title to my paper, “Cecil Pierce, Inventor.” One invention that comes to mind is his potato truck hoist. At the time he was working for a machine shop in Portland area. In those days potatoes would be turned out of the ground by a special plow and then be picked up by farm hands and put into barrels. Each barrel weighed perhaps 100 pounds and had to be lifted by two workers three or four feet onto the back of a truck. Cecil, who was intimately acquainted with car and truck engines, knew that there was an easier way. His final design consisted of a large air cylinder attached to one corner of the rear of the truck. The air cylinder moved a simple elevator to lift the barrel. The whole thing was operated by a valve and used the carburetor intake vacuum, produced by the idling truck engine, for power. They sold about 500 of these to Maine farmers

Another simple idea that he perfected was the plastic lobster pot door now on all Maine gear that let immature lobsters escape from the traps before they eat the bait or become food for the “Big Guys”. Cecil was a wonder.

 

Volunteers

 

As always, we express our gratitude to the following volunteers who make the operation of the Museum possible. Evelyn Sherman reports that there have been a total of 1,247 volunteer hours since last November.  This year we had 267 visitors from 19 states and from England and Scotland! To express our gratitude, the Friends invited all volunteers to a luncheon last summer. We hid (all in plain sight!) a penny, a nickel and a dime in each first floor room, each next to items of interest. Guests were given half an hour to find the coins (but not to touch them) and note the items they were next to. Then after lunch we had a discussion of the history these items represented. It was a fun time, enjoyed by all who participated. We are always looking for new docents to help guests enjoy the Museum.

Here is the list of those who helped in 2007:

Jack Bauman

MaryAnn Blycher

Sally Bobbitt

Marion Bradley

Kathy Bugbee

Barbara Bush

Ann Charlesworth

Bob Colby

Phyllis Cook

Rick Conant

Larry Crane

Karen Curtis

Dick Dexter

Maria Doelp

Peter Doelp

Donald Duncan

Joyce Duncan

Bob Eaton

Leanne Eaton

Gerry Gamage

Jean Hasch

Mimi Havinga

Jean Hawley

Fred Helming

Toni Helming

Al  Kaider

Shelby Kaider

Mary Lou Koskela

Leonard Merrill

Ralva Orchard

Ronald Orchard

Michael Pollard

Penny Pollard

Evelyn Sherman

Kit Sherrill

Leigh Sherrill

Becky Singer

Dick Snyder

Pegi Stengel

Jean Thompson

Priscilla Wallace

Ann Wight

Bruce Wood