Maine Fire Station Addition Collapses in High Winds

Jan. 11--POLAND -- An 8,000-square-foot wood framed section of the Poland Fire Station, which is under construction, collapsed in high winds early Thursday morning.

Poland's Fire and Rescue Chief, Mark Bosse, said firefighters had just returned from a motor vehice accident around 4 a.m. when they heard a loud bang.

Bosse said no one was inside the addition, a $2.3 million project designed to house offices, to provide training and storage space, and to be used as sleeping quarters by firefighters.

The addition will need to be rebuilt but at no cost to the town, Bosse said. The collapse will delay the project by about three weeks. The contractor -- PM Construction of Saco -- broke ground on the project six weeks ago.

In the meantime, it will be business as usual at the town's existing fire station -- a brick and mortar structure that was unaffected by the building collapse.

"It was caused by a freak of nature," Bosse said Thursday night."We'll pick up the pieces tomorrow."

Copyright 2013 - Portland Press Herald, Maine