Jackman – Moose River Fire Department

2004 Emergency Calls

Call #3: 01-15-2004 – Firefighters working to extinguish a fully involved structure fire on a night that the air temperature was -22 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was blowing fiercely creating some of the worst possible conditions for firefighting.

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* * 2004 EMERGENCY CALLS TO DATE * *

NOTE: 2004 was the second year in a row that the number of emergency calls was lower than what there had taken been in previous years. Although there appears to be no explanation for the decreased number of emergency calls, fewer emergency calls is a good thing.

32. 12/31/2004 – Delivery van rollover with injury – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. Rain started falling on the cold road which created instant icing problems. Although there were numerous vehicles off the road, this was the only vehicle that slid off the road and rolled over. The driver sustained some minor injuries.

31. 12/31/2004 – Snowmobile accident with injury – ITS 89 south, Jackman. A female snowmobiler apparently hit a tree sustaining serious injuries. She was transported from the accident scene to the road by JMRFD’s Rescue Sled, and then taken by Jackman ambulance to the Jackman Region Health Center. From there she was transported to a hospital for immediate surgery.

30. 12/24/2004 – Structure fire – John’s Street, Jackman. The early morning fire destroyed the interior of an old mobile home. The only occupant of the mobile home was injured in the fire and was transported to the hospital.

29. 12/20/2004 – Live power line down and burning – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. The power line simply broke (possibly from the cold because the temperature was below zero at the time), and remained live and burning in the snow. Just after the fire department arrived on scene the power company arrived on scene and shut off the power and repaired the line.

28. 12/10/2004 – Log truck rollover with entrapment – 18 miles in on the Spencer Road (logging road), Appleton Township. On a snow-covered logging road the log truck slipped off the road and rolled over, trapping the driver. Firefighters used hydraulic extrication equipment to remove the driver from the truck. The driver suffered back injuries.

27. 12/02/2004 - Tree on a power line on fire – Main Street (Route 201), Dennistown. Windy conditions brought down many trees in the region. This particular tree tipped over on to a live power line, and the top portion of the tree caught on fire. The tree was still burning when the fire department arrived on scene.

26. 11/21/2004 – Sprinkler activation – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. Apparently the air compressor failed on the dry sprinkler system, and when the air pressure in the system fell below a certain amount, the system was automatically charged with water which activated the alarm system.

25. 11/15/2004 – Pickup rollover – Main Street (Route 201), Sandy Bay Township. Black ice formed on the road just at dawn. The driver of the pickup lost control on the ice, slid off the road, hit a large rock, and rolled over. The driver suffered minor injuries.

24. 11/08/2004 – Vehicle accident on the Moose River bridge – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. A car (that appears to have been driven at a high rate of speed in a 25mph zone) crashed into the reinforced guard rail on the bridge over the Moose River, causing extensive damage to the vehicle and some damage to the bridge. The driver of the car suffered minor injuries.

23. 11/05/2004 – Tree on a power line on fire – Main Street (Route 201), Dennistown. High, gusty winds brought down numerous trees throughout the region, knocking out power twice for several hours. This particular tree tipped over on to a live power line, and the top portion of the tree caught on fire. The fire was out when JMRFD arrived on scene.

22. 10/18/2004 – Fire Alarm Activation – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. The local school conducted a fire drill, and although they notified the security agency that monitors the school’s alarm system about the drill, when the alarm came in the security agency had the fire department dispatched.

21. 10/08/2004 – Reported Structure Fire – Long Pond Road (Route 15), Jackman. The caller reported a possible structure fire at a contractor’s garage, but the actual fire involved a bale of hay outside of the garage that was placed next to the vent of a direct vent heating system. Heat coming out of the vent ignited the bale of hay.

20. 09/21/2004 – Truck-Car accident – Main Street (Route 201), Moose River. The driver of a car wanting to turn left into her driveway slowed down behind a mail vehicle delivering mail. A tractor-trailer truck driver didn’t want to wait so he started going out around the car and the mail vehicle. When the truck was part way by, the driver of the car turned left striking the drive wheels of the tractor. The car then spun around and the driver’s door was struck by the rear wheels of the trailer. Fortunately the driver of the car suffered only minor injuries. Had the trailer been fully loaded instead of empty, the results could have been a lot worse.

19. 08/23/2004 – Line down across the road – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. A caller reported a line down across the road. The line was a phone line that was not only down but was broken in two, which means that it was possibly hanging low enough to be hooked by a truck. Firefighters removed the line from the road.

18. 08/19/2004 – Structure Fire – Long Pond Road (Route 15), Long Pond Township. For unknown reasons, a fire started in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. The homeowner extinguished the fire prior to the firefighters arriving on scene. The husband and wife who lived in the home were very fortunate – the fire occurred in the middle of the night and there were no smoke detectors in the home.

17. 07/23/2004 – Truck-Car accident – Main Street (Route 201), Sandy Bay Township. In a rain storm, a north bound car going down a hill spun out of control and slammed in to a south bound truck going up the hill. The driver of the truck attempted to avoid the accident, but the spinning car came at him too fast. The three occupants of the car were killed instantly.

16. 07/22/2004 – Truck-Moose accident – Route 201, Johnson Mountain Township. A south bound tractor-trailer truck loaded with roofing shingles struck a moose in the road. The tractor-trailer truck was disabled and was blocking the north bound lane. The moose was dead lying on the yellow center line. The driver of the truck was not injured.

15. 06/11/2004 – Car-Moose accident – Route 15, T&R Academy Grant. This accident occurred in Rockwood Fire & Rescue’s coverage area, so we advised the dispatcher to tone them for the accident.

14. 04/26/2004 – Truck-Utility Pole – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. A truck went off the road, sideswiped a utility pole, the pole started to sag into the road and the truck caught the phone cable pulling the pole down into the road. Power was out and the road was partially blocked for four hours while repairs were made.

13. 04/05/2004 – Car off road – Route 201, Parlin Pond Township. The incident was reported as car (with 4 occupants – mother, father and two small children) that went off the road and rolled over, with unknown injuries. In actuality, the car had simply slid off the road. Firefighters stood by and provided traffic control while a tow truck pulled the car back on to the road.

12. 04/05/2004 – Tractor Trailer Truck rollover – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. A slow moving tractor-trailer truck, carrying a full load of chips, was going up a steep hill when the right wheels of the truck got caught in the slushy snow on the edge of the road resulting in the truck going off the road and rolling over. The driver of the truck was not injured.

11. 04/02/2004 – Pickup rollover – Spencer Road (logging road AKA Hardscrabble Road), Parlin Pond Township. A woman alone in a pickup was traveling out of the Spencer Road at night when her vehicle went off the road and rolled over in to a flooded ditch. Soaking wet she walked 2.5 miles in a cold rain to Route 201. She waited at Route 201 for an unknown period of time until someone came by and offered assistance. The woman had a head injury as well as numerous bumps and bruises.

10. 03/11/2004 – Chimney Fire – Pleasant Street, Moose River.

9. 02/15/2004 – Reported snowmobile accident – Jackman. Someone saw a snowmobiler take quite a tumble, so he or she called to report a snowmobile accident. After a brief time, before any emergency personnel arrived on scene, the snowmobiler got back on his snowmobile and took off.

8. 02/07/2004 – Snowmobile Accident – Main Street (Route 201), Jackman. A snowmobiler racing up and down the road at a high rate of speed went off the road and hit a building. The snowmobiler suffered serious injury and the building sustained substantial damage.

7. 02/06/2004 – Log Truck Rollover – Long Pond Road (Route 15), Long Pond Township. The sway bar broke on the tractor and the result was that the truck rolled over on its side completely blocking one lane of traffic. The driver had very minor injuries.

6. 01/31/2004 – Snowmobile Accident – side trail off ITS 89, Moose River. The driver of the snowmobile set her foot down on the ground while the snowmobile was still moving and her foot twisted severely injuring her ankle. JMRFD firefighters and Jackman Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps personnel used the rescue sled to transport the injured woman to the nearest road where the ambulance was waiting to take her to the Jackman Region Health Center.

5. 01/30/2004 – Vehicle Accident – Main Street, Jackman. The driver (whose license to drive is currently suspended) of the car appeared to be driving too fast. The car spun around sideways and slid sideways up a snowbank. Although the driver received some injuries, he got out of the vehicle and ran off. It took quite a while before we could locate him so that the Jackman Ambulance crew could transport him to the Jackman Region Health Center for treatment. His injuries appeared to be relatively minor. After being treated he was taken into custody – there was a warrant for his arrest from New Hampshire.

4. 01/16/2004 – Structure Fire rekindle – Marston East, Jackman. Even though firefighters essentially encapsulated the structure in ice the night before, the high winds fanned hot spots and re-ignited part of the structure. After extinguishing all of the hot spots, firefighters waited a few hours then went back to extinguish the last few hot spots.

3. 01/15/2004 – Structure Fire – Marston East, Jackman. While the owner of the home was away in town visiting some friends, the house caught on fire. Although the home was in a fairly built up area, none of the neighbors noticed the fire until one section of the home was fully involved. On the way to the fire firefighters could see the fire from a half mile away so they knew that they were in for a long night. The air temperature was -22 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind was blowing fiercely creating some of the worst possible conditions for firefighters using water attempting to extinguish a fire. The home is a total loss.

2. 01/14/2003 – 2 vehicle accident – Main Street (U.S. Route 201), Jackman. A vehicle slowly crossing the road was struck by another vehicle apparently well exceeding the speed limit. One of the two drivers sustained a cut on his head.

1. 01/11/2004 – Structure Fire – Heald Stream Road, Jackman – A wood stove sitting directly on the protective pad on the floor got hot enough so that heat transferred down through the pad to the floor igniting the floor boards and floor joists below. Damage was contained to the immediate area. The air temperature at the time of the call was -18 degrees Fahrenheit.