WINTHROP, Maine — A new plow truck in a Maine town went up in flames during its first snowstorm.
Winthrop Fire Chief Dan Brooks says the truck driver plowed down a street Thursday, then saw smoke coming into the cab. He got out, then saw fire coming from under the hood.
No one was hurt. Brooks said the external plow equipment and the dumper appeared to be fine.
Town Manager Jeffrey Woolston tells the Kennebec Journal the town acquired the truck under a lease-purchase agreement, and it was insured.
He didn’t immediately know the cost of the truck.
The town still has other plow trucks.
they must have gotten the plow truck from bangor car care lol
“Come Join The Party!”
bring your own hot dogs and marshmellows
It’s now bumper to bumper care car! They had to change the name cause the only thing good on the vehicles are bumpers! (sometimes)
from jake and jimmy’s??
Interesting the article didn’t state the make and model of the truck. That information would be helpful for others purchasing the same truck, so they can have their trucks serviced. If this truck was brand new, this is very dangerous and may very well be an upcoming recall.
I suspect it was probably a hydraulic fluid leak from the add-on plow apparatus. Just a guess, of course.
should of been a fire truck instead.
That’s one thing it could be, battery freak explosion seems more likely. I’ve had 3 cars that caught fire for no apparent reason. The first sign is strangers waiving wildly at you and doing charades. The carburator and head were fully involved in all three cases. The engines literally burned up and melted. They were all VWs.
In my 30 years as a mechanic, I never heard of a battery fire. Only if the cables shorted against themselves, maybe.
I’ll wager the Vee Dub’s were air cooled and had old rotten flexible gas lines going up from the pump and probably w/o clamps, because they didn’t use carbatooters after ’74 except for the Rabbit (I started out with them in high school and left them for Mercedes in ’79).
Bad luck, glad you weren;t hurt. I like the first sign is strangers waving wildly at you. I can just picture this. I must be looking nice today. Wave back. They are still waving… Hmmm? Is there spinach in my teeth? What is wrong with my hair? Who put what in my hair? Oh my, my car is on FIRE!!!
More details are in the Kennebec Journal. It was a Ford F550. Considering the mixed reputation of Augusta O’Connor’s GMC, I don’t blame them for taking their chances elsewhere with a Ford.
Bought our daughter a car at O’Connor’s and have to take it back for power steering issues. Wanted her to buy a toyota. U just can’t destroy a toyota, my husband drives to connecticut to work and back ALOT plus to Brunswick and Bath, tons of miles and can’t kill that over 20 year old car.
I was a victim of a hit-and-run accident 5 years ago. I had just relocated to Disgusta. At the time I was driving a Buick Park Avenue. O’Connors was (and still is) the local Buick dealer. They were also on my insurance agency’s short list of repair shops in Disgusta. The rear quarter panel, bumper and tail light assembly were all damaged. It looked great after O’Connors was done with it a week later. But looks are deceiving. That weekend, we had heavy rain. I took it back and showed them the 3 inches of water in the trunk. They had it another week. It rained again. Same result. They tried a third time. And there was still water leaking in the trunk.
Meanwhile the estimated bill to the insurance agency tripled. They charged them the original quote and then charged them two more times for the return repairs which should have been at no cost. At that point the agency sent me to Charlie’s AND sent their regional rep up to examine the car. Charlie’s corrected the problem on the first try–resealed the rear window that had been knocked slightly ajar in the collision. My agency then billed O’Connor’s for the work at Charlie’s AND didn’t pay them for the work they failed to do.
Here’s the kicker. That winter after the first cold snap, my bumper recracked. Apparently, O’Connor’s didn’t replace it. They simply glued it and hid the crack.
Never will I go there again for any service or to even consider car shopping. Nor will I ever recommend them to anyone else. I honestly don’t know how they remain in business as the largest vehicle dealer in the state. I guess there’s more suckers in this state than I’d like to think there are.
wow, My daughters car is a recall part. Will take to Hights Chevrolet. After all her steering depends on it!!! Scary!!! Thank you.
Smart decision. Any Chevy dealer is a better choice for the recall over O’Connor’s.
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Bought at a fire sale?
Good news! The plow works real fine. It only needs to be hitched up to a good truck.
The idea is to plow the snow – not melt it…
bet it was an American made piece of CR-P truck
It is always a bad thing when the taxpayers money is lost. This is not good publicity for anyone. It’s always a good idea to test drive and inspect ones vehicle whenever work is performed on it. It is not a good idea to test drive anything when it is needed most. Though sometimes unavoidable. Just an unfortunate turn of events of which the loss is replaceable. Good thing no one got hurt as a result.