Powerful storms pummel Maine

A wave of powerful thunderstorms and heavy rains roared through central and eastern Maine Wednesday evening, knocking down trees, disrupting power and causing several fires.

In Newport, everything seemed to go wrong at once.

Trees fell, blocking roads. Railroad signals malfunctioned and lights were flashing without trains. At the same time, Newport firefighters were called to two structure fires, one on the Durham Bridge Road and the other on Mackenzie Street.

The Mackenzie Street mobile home fire was called in first, and while Newport firefighters fought that blaze, the second fire was called in.

Firefighters attempting to reach Durham Bridge Road were blocked by a downed tree and had to take a longer route via Palmer Road.

They were also stymied by railroad crossing lights that apparently had shorted out and continuously flashed when no train was in sight.

By 8:30 p.m. – about an hour after the storms first moved in – a fire alarm was reported at Newport Elementary School. Firefighters who were at the other fires were diverted to the school, where the alarm was determined to have been set off by the storm.

The Newport Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Corinna, Dexter, Stetson, Plymouth and Pittsfield.

No details were available on the fires at press time, although firefighters were cleared from the Durham Bridge scene by 9 p.m.

Trees and wires were also reported down in Palmyra, Pittsfield and Hartland.

Firefighters in Millinocket were called to what was reported to be a fire at a camp by Togue Pond near Baxter State Park. No details were immediately available.

In Brewer, part of the sign attached to the Bangor Savings Bank building on Wilson Street fell down during the storm, leaving just the word “Bank” remaining secured to the side.

Well after the storm had subsided, much more subdued lightning flashes could be seen flickering in Bangor, where many streets and homes were darkened in a large section of the city’s east side, stretching along much of State Street and down through the Hogan Road area. Near the intersection of Howard and Garland streets, Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. workers were on the scene at about 10 p.m. reconnecting a power line that had snapped during the storm.

Bangor police Officer James Hassard said that when police first arrived, the line was on fire on the ground.

Sections of Ellsworth and Trenton lost power as well, and the intense winds, lightning and thunder set off numerous alarms throughout the region.

Winds and “pretty intense lightning strikes” were the order for part of the evening in Old Town, where power was out for about half of the city’s downtown area and along a long stretch of Stillwater Avenue, said Old Town police Sgt. Travis Roy.

Police officers were out canvassing the city looking for any storm-related problems, he said.