Men walking on Route 1A face charges

Two Hampden men will have their day in court after police officers said one gave them a fake name, and the other was carrying drugs on Sunday.

Officer Chris Greeley of the Holden Police Department spotted two men walking along Route 1A in Holden and stopped to ask them what they were doing.

“It’s unusual to see foot traffic on Route 1A,” Greeley said.

When asked for identification, both men said they did not have any on them, and Craig W. Demarest, 26, gave the officer a fake name.

When Greeley noticed a wallet in the man’s pocket, he learned Demarest’s real identity. Demarest had a warrant for his arrest for unpaid fines stemming from drug and weapons charges.

He was taken to Penobscot County Jail where he was later released on bail, Greeley said. Demarest was also summoned for giving a false name to a police officer.

The second man, Joshua Brown, 19, was carrying a backpack and when Greeley searched the bag for identification, he found marijuana and a pipe. Brown was summoned for possession of a usable amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, Greeley said.

Both men are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 13.

Firefighters spent another long day in Greenbush dousing hotspots after a fire broke out Sunday and burned approximately 3 acres of meadow land.

The fire, presumably ignited by lightning, started around 11:30 a.m. Sunday about a mile and a half southeast of the Military Road, said Greenbush Fire Chief Donald Burr.

Firefighters finished battling the blaze at about 10:30 Sunday night, but some remained at the scene to ensure it did not re-ignite. Fire crews began battling small fires again at 5:30 a.m., when the sun came up, Burr said.

All crews went home around 1 p.m. Monday, he said.

“It’s kind of a funny thing, when the lightning comes, two days later the fire comes,” Burr said.

The Maine Fire Service dropped water on the fire from a helicopter for about two hours Sunday, which helped control the flames, he said.

Fire departments from Greenbush, Milford, Bradley and Passadumkeag responded to the fire with approximately 30 firefighters, Burr said.

The fire ran along Stevens Brook, so the departments were able to pump water from the brook to fight the flames.

Despite the humid weather, only one firefighter suffered from heat exhaustion, Burr said. Firefighters will continue to check the site, but the rain has helped, he said. (Toni-Lynn Robbins, BDN)