Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

Firefighters snuff small fire at emergency 911 communications center

By Leslie Bridgers lbridgers@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

SKOWHEGAN -- Dispatchers at the Somerset County Communications Center constantly call on firefighters to respond to emergencies throughout the county, but on Friday morning they were calling to report a fire in their own building.

The smoke that the dispatchers reported was coming from a back-up battery that shorted out at about 5:30 a.m., said Mike Smith, communications director for the county.

"It's kind of like an electrical fire," said Smith. There were no flames, he said.

The back-up battery is used to power the communications center during the 15-second lapse before the generator kicks in when the center loses conventional power. Smith said the power hadn't gone out that morning, so the battery wasn't being used.

As a precaution, he said, for about an hour, all 911 calls that came into the Skowhegan center were answered at the Central Maine Regional Communications Center in Augusta.

"There was no loss of calls, no loss of service. It was actually a good test for us," said Smith.

Smith said the dispatchers who were working at the time of the fire called him to tell him what was happening. He arrived at the call center just as firefighters were leaving. Skowhegan Fire Chief Tom Keene told him he heard the tone for a fire at the call center as he was getting ready for the day, Smith said. Keene joked that he figured he could drop by before getting in the shower.

"It's pretty unusual for the fire department to respond to the 911 center, and that's the way they like it," Smith said.

Leslie Bridgers -- 861-9252

lbridgers@centralmaine.com