When Tragedy Comes to Town


Kenny Brechner - September 19, 2019

Courtesy of The Daily Bulldog.


I was driving in to the bookstore on Monday morning when I saw ambulance lights behind. Noteworthy but not unusual. Then a series of more sirens from behind, ambulances, police cruisers, and fire trucks began to pass by in earnest. Maine Public Radio broke into Morning Edition to announce that a building had blown up in downtown Farmington and there had been a propane explosion. One firefighter was reported as dead and more injured. The thought flashed through my mind that the bookstore was involved, that the building had been my downtown neighbor, the House of Pizza, which has a row of propane tanks attached to it. We have had close calls along these lines before, smelling propane coming through shared ventilation into the bookstore and running over to the the House of Pizza before it had a chance to open and turn its ovens on. It was not the House of Pizza however. MPRĀ  proceeded to report that It was the headquarters of a community nonprofit LEAP, Life Enrichment Advancing People, whose mission statement is Supporting people with developmental, cognitive and intellectual disabilities to be actively involved in their home communities.

courtesy of The Daily Bulldog


There had been a strong propane smell in the building when LEAP staff arrived that Monday morning, and the maintenance person took action and evacuated the building while calling for emergency support. Most of the Farmington Fire Department arrived and, along with the LEAP maintenance worker, went over to the building to try and find the cause of the leak. The propane source exploded, destroying the building entirely, leaving nothing but rubble, debris, one firefighter dead, six more critically injured along with the maintenance worker.

Farmington is an old, close-knit town, and nothing is closer knit than our Fire Department, which has deep multi-generational roots. Among those seven who went to save the Leap building were two brothers and one father and son pair. Everyone in town knows these people and has some personal connection or other. Just this past year two of them had come to the bookstore wearing their uniforms to read to the kids for our Children’s Book Week event and were incredibly gracious. The firefighter who died, Captain Bell, is theUuncle of one of my young booksellers.
These connections are everywhere here. When Captain Bell’s body was brought back to Farmington on Tuesday, accompanied by a procession of fire engines, police cruisers and ambulances, the procession passed right in front of the bookstore. There was not a dry eye on the street.
We think about books and community all the time at DDG. But when tragedy comes to town the definition and meaning of community changes. It is not about who you are and what you do. It just is. Everyone does what they can. It will change again, slowly. But for now the presence of tragedy is a powerful source of stillness and clarity, of suspension amid outpouring, an imbuing of time’s movement with a dual sense of loss and purpose, a narrative which many books strive for and only the best realize.

3 thoughts on “When Tragedy Comes to Town

  1. VickeyB

    My heart is broken for the Farmington Fire Department, and the entire community. Thank heaven for the prompt actions of the maintenance worker, in evacuating the building. I hope he and the injured Fire Fighters recover quickly and fully.
    Although I live on the opposite side of the country, when I heard about the explosion earlier this week, I immediately thought of DDG, and hoped the store was not involved. Of course, after reading your article today, I realize that, although not physically damaged, the entire community of Farmington is involved. I wish you all the healing blessings of friendship and love.

    Reply
  2. Kathy Quimby

    Kenny,
    My heart goes out to the entire community. Small-town emergency services, whether fire, rescue, or police, are neighbors who put their own lives on the line, and I know how their loss can ripple. Farmington is such a familiar place, as I used to pass by (sometimes with a stop for lunch), on my way to college in Waterville. Sending heartfelt condolences.

    Reply

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