Smell of burned plastic leads police to torched toilets in Hampden

The acrid smell of burning plastic filled the air in Hampden on Friday night, but the odor trumped an alternative stench when two portable toilets were set ablaze behind the George B. Weatherbee School.

People who live near the school called in the fires at 10:25 p.m. Friday after spotting flames spouting from the portable toilets near the athletic fields, said Sgt. Dan Stewart of Hampden Public Safety.

“Everything just kind of melted,” Stewart said.

One of the portable toilets burned to the ground, but firefighters saved three of the four walls of the second toilet, Stewart said.

He said cost of the damage and exactly how the fires started is unknown. There are no suspects in the case of the charred commodes. (Toni-Lynn Robbins, BDN)

Two dormitory residents at the University of Maine in Orono were summoned after someone reported smelling marijuana smoke coming from their room early Thursday.

UM spokesman Joe Carr said UM police responded to a call to Hart Hall about 12:40 a.m., but after knocking on the door of the second-floor room shared by Sean Dewlowski, 20, and Preston Hughes, 19, and receiving no response, they obtained a search warrant.

Bangor police assisted in the search by providing a drug-sniffing dog that discovered marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Police also found beer in the room and charged both men with possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and alcohol by a minor.

They are scheduled to appear in 3rd District Court in Bangor. (Aimee Dolloff, BDN)