An emergency brake malfunction led to this Town of Sebago service truck rolling into a lakePhoto: Marc Marion
An emergency service truck took a swim in Sebago Lake in Maine this past summer.
While the incident made a splash with local media, Sebago town manager Michele Bukoveckas said no one was hurt.
“They were responding to a call and they were putting the boat into the lake — it was a water rescue call,” Bukoveckas told Service Truck Magazine. “When they went to move the truck, the brake gave way and the truck rolled into the lake. We’re very grateful that nobody got hurt. That’s the important thing.”
The truck was a 1999 Dodge, which the town called “Utility One.” Employees used it to haul around a boat trailer for water rescues and would utilize its four-wheel drive capabilities when responding to fires in the woods. The truck itself is a write-off. However, employees did dive into the waters to save as much equipment as possible. The full extent of the financial cost was unknown as this went to press.
“That is still being determined with the insurance company at this time,” Bukoveckas said. “I think it’s safe to assume that a good portion of the equipment will have to be replaced – the medical equipment, the AEDs (automated external defibrillators) and a generator possibly.”
Sebago is a town of about 1,700 in Cumberland County on the west side of the lake, which is 30 miles northwest of Portland.
Patrol Sgt. Marc Marion of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene after the truck went into the water. He remembers the mood being fairly light, with one notable exception.
“People were standing around, talking pictures,” Marion said. “Most people thought it was funny. I know that the driver from the fire department did not think it was quite so funny, the one who had driven the truck. If it was me, I probably wouldn’t be happy in that situation. But accidents do happen.”
Sources indicated that the incident was caused by inevitable breakdown of the truck after 20 years of service rather than operator error. The truck was likely near the end of its service life.
“We don’t see too many vehicles on the road from 1999 with the salt we use,” Marion said. “It’s brutal here in the Northeast. It’s rough on vehicles. So it was pretty impressive they could keep a truck in service that long anyway.”
When Marion arrived, a diver was attaching a line to the truck so a wrecker could pull it out of the lake. He said that while retrievals such as this can be tricky in water bodies with softer, muddy bottoms, the boat launch site was rocky. So it only took around 15 minutes to pull the truck out.
Bukoveckas said the insurance will cover the book value for the truck. The town is now looking at what type of replacement vehicle to purchase. In the meantime, a public works pickup truck has been designated to pick up the slack. Luckily there hasn’t been a need for a water rescue or wood fire support since Utility One was lost.
—Matt Jones
Matt Jones is a freelance writer based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, a Canadian province bordering Maine.