Lamoine - The owner of a local transport company got a quite a scare when the wood chipper he was hauling burst into flames Friday afternoon.

George Moon, the owner of Moonshine Transport, says he had just left a job site on the Partridge Cove Road in Lamoine and traveled a little more than 500 feet when he saw the flames and stopped the truck.

Fire crews say they don't know what caused the fire and thankfully no one was injured.

The Lamoine Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call along with the State Police. They had the blaze under control in around 5 minutes. "When we arrived on scene it was fully involved in fire," said Assistant Fire Chief Stu Marckoon. "There was a lot of black smoke. You could see it from a couple miles away. Fire department hit it with hose stream and water and basically put it out and just tried to cool it off."

The wood chipper was completely destroyed. The owner says it will cost about $300,000 to replace it, but he says the equipment is insured.

The incident closed the Partridge Cove Road for more than an hour as crews worked to clean up the oil soaked debris.

The DEP was called in to check the scene for possible environmental contaminants.

Print this Story

Recent Stories