Columbia firefighters receive Bath equipment

COLUMBIA – A week after fire destroyed this Down East town’s fire station and two of its firetrucks, another department along the Maine coast has donated a truck and an ambulance to the town.

Shortly after a fire Nov. 8 destroyed the old Town Hall, fire station and some regional communications equipment in Columbia, the chief of the Bath Fire Department talked to people in his city’s government about helping out.

The result: One 1972 Ward LaFrance pumper with a 1,000-gallon capacity and one 1986 “type 1” – boxlike – ambulance were picked up Tuesday by Columbia firefighters and taken to Washington County.

“We decided that we had some pieces of apparatus taking up space,” said Bath shift Capt. Lawrence Renaud on Wednesday. So Bath fire Chief Leverette Mitchell presented the donation idea to the city manager, who talked with the City Council, and permission was granted.

The Columbia fire destroyed the 91-year-old Town Hall, which was used primarily for community events, the fire station and the two vehicles inside. A nearby building that serves as the town office was spared. The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.

In the meantime, a Bath fire captain will visit Columbia soon to provide a day’s training to the department.

Bath has 22 full-time firefighters and 30 others paid by the call, Renaud said.