By John Collins
The Lowell Sun
PELHAM, N.H. — The Pelham Fire Department’s emergency call-response times could suffer in the next several days until damage caused by a car crashing into the fire station on Sunday is repaired, Chief James Midgley said.
Two of the station’s three front bay doors were rendered inoperable by the impact of a Toyota Camry, driven by 78-year-old Leon Moreau of Somerville, Mass., who suffered minor injuries.
For all the debate among Pelham residents in recent years about whether to choose Town Center traffic-makeover Plan A or B, Midgley expressed gratitude yesterday to whomever came up with Plan C — installing a heavy Coke machine in front of the building.
“We had three firefighters standing just inside that wall at the time of the crash,” said Midgley.
At first, the firefighters heard the sound of Moreau’s vehicle colliding with a Honda Accord driven by Frederick Pepe, 40, of Pelham, at Old Bridge Street and Marsh Road, about 60 feet from the fire station, according to Midgley.
“So they all turned and looked out the windows to see this vehicle swerving and accelerating right for them,” Midgley continued. As the firefighters dashed from the doors, the car smashed into the building.
“The Coke machine slowed the vehicle significantly,” said Midgley. “Had it not been there, the car would have come through that wall.”
Insurance adjuster Dan Flynn was at the scene yesterday calculating the cost of repairs to be borne by the town’s insurer, the New Hampshire Local Government Center’s Risk Management Exchange. Although Flynn declined to share his estimate, a local contractor came “close” in estimating the damages at $15,000, he said.
In the interest of public safety, Flynn said the insurance claim will be processed quickly so firefighters can regain the use of six bay doors for their response vehicles. Until the first and second bay doors are repaired, the department must “stack” two pairs of vehicles, all facing the rear exit.
For Midgley, it’s a chilling preview of what’s likely to happen if the town stays with its current plan to green-light Town Center traffic Plan B, calling for a roundabout to be built in front of the fire station. If a state-funded roundabout is built in 2011, the front doors of his station will close permanently, and he’ll have to stack six vehicles behind three bay doors year-round, the chief said.
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