Construction company cleans Veazie roads

VEAZIE – A local construction company came to the rescue Tuesday morning when the town’s two plow trucks broke down in the midst of the area’s first snowstorm.

Barney Silver of Lou Silver Inc. put four of his construction company’s trucks on the road while the town repaired its vehicles.

“I think it’s been blown a little out of proportion,” Silver said Tuesday afternoon.

Over the years, he’s helped the town when needed, clearing roads during the ice storm and providing salt for the streets when needed.

Tuesday’s troubles began when the town’s first truck stopped working around 4 a.m. That truck had to be towed, but crews continued clearing the roads with the other truck until it appeared to overheat. The driver shut the vehicle off, and it wouldn’t start again, Reed said.

“When they started her up – this was around 7 – the ignition wouldn’t go and there was a real funny smell,” Town Manager Bill Reed said. “It looked like it had caught on fire.”

Both trucks are about five or six years old. Reed said crews were working to rewire the second truck and expected to have it back on the road by noon.

“It’s just the comedy of fate,” Reed said. “Luckily Barney and his people are helping keep up. He really came to the rescue of helping us out for three or four hours.”

When Silver and his crew got to work on the roads around 8:30 a.m., four to six inches of snow already covered the roads.

“Needless to say, they were concerned,” Silver said. “[But] in a couple hours time, all his roads were opened up.”