By Diana Graettinger
Bangor Daily News
Copyright 2007 Bangor Daily News
CALAIS, Maine — They are brother smoke eaters and now they are diving head first - figuratively speaking - into a fundraiser to help raise money for a firefighter friend who has been diagnosed with leukemia.
At 1 p.m. Saturday, six emergency personnel are going to get their locks shorn to help raise money for firefighter Billy Townsend. They also want to show solidarity with a friend who has lost his hair as a result of his treatments.
The clipping will take place at the Calais Fire Department.
Townsend dreamed of being a firefighter as a kid and at 14 years old joined the Fire Explorers. That was around 1995.
“He was actually one of the very first group that we had,” Capt. Dale Purton of the Calais Fire Department said Wednesday. “It is an outpost of the Boy Scouts of America.”
Townsend worked hard.
While in high school he was one of the department’s first student firefighters. “He took classes at the fire station. It was all basic firemanship,” the captain said.
After he graduated from Calais High School he worked for the department. He later got a full-time position with the Lincoln Fire Department as a pump operator.
Three years later, he was hired by Mingo Construction in Robbinston and returned to Washington County. He immediately joined the Calais Fire Department as a volunteer call person. At the same time his wife, Alicia, joined the department. The couple has two children Charlie, 5, and Tori, 7.
About six months ago, Townsend was diagnosed with leukemia.
Purton said he has known Townsend since he was a kid. “He’s one of these guys who always has a smile. He still does,” he said.
Although Townsend has had to put his firefighting duties on hold, he still stops by the station. “He certainly hasn’t let this get him down,” Purton said.
Although Townsend’s leukemia is in remission, he still is undergoing chemotherapy treatments - which means three trips a week to Bangor. When Townsend was first diagnosed, Purton said, there was a lot of public support.
“We just don’t want people to forget,” he said. “He isn’t able to work so the Fire Association, along with other organizations, continue to try and help raise money for the family.”
Firefighter Kevin Ingersoll organized the hair-cutting fundraiser for his friend. He too has known Townsend since he was a kid. “We are going to have our heads shaved in support of the chemo that has taken his hair,” he said.
Those who have volunteered to sit under the scissors with Ingersoll are: firefighter David Townsend, who works for the Public Works Department; Chris Donahue of the Calais Police Department; Scott Homstead of Downeast EMS; Chad Seeley of the Calais Fire Department; and Dale Wunder of the Calais Fire Department Explorers.
Local hairdresser Phyllis Clark volunteered her time to do the shearing.
The six are going around the city seeking donations. Ingersoll said he hopes to raise $1,000.
Ingersoll said everyone is invited to come and watch Saturday.
Anyone who would like to donate money can call the Fire Department at 454-7400.