Maine
Stories from Maine: The Great Brunswick Fire
This hand tub was purchased from the City of Rockland in 1885 for $200, and the “engine” remained in service until 1919. The firefighting apparatus is now on display at Brunswick Fire Department headquarters on Pleasant Street. Lori-Suzanne Dell photo
Brunswick has had many notable fires since its settlement in 1628, but this month marks the 199th anniversary of the Great Brunswick Fire of 1825.
In that year, with a population of nearly 3,000, Brunswick was a flourishing little village brisk with sawmills, cotton manufacturers, lumber mills, grist mills, tenement houses, shops and businesses.
At approximately 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 1825, a fire began under “the heating furnace” at the cotton manufactory on the banks of the Androscoggin River, just “above where the swinging bridge exists today.” The temperature was -13 degrees Fahrenheit.
Brunswick did not have an officially organized fire service, other than a handful of private citizens who devoted themselves to operating the town’s only fire pump, a 15-year-old “hand tub” known as “the Mechanic.” And fire suppression relied heavily on volunteers from the Washington Fire Club.
The Mechanic was a centrifugal force pump built over the deck of a wooden wagon that, in time of fire, was manned by a team of men who manipulated the see-saw action of the pump using brute force. Water was fed into the Mechanic by a human bucket brigade.
At the factory, the blaze likely spread quickly along the flax oil–soaked wooden floors before consuming stored cotton bales, which then engulfed the timbers of the mill’s structure. Arctic breezes flowing in off the Androscoggin River likely fanned the inferno. Meanwhile, volunteers with another apparatus raced from Topsham and Bath to join in the fight.
Soon, the fire jumped from structure to structure along the crowded banks of the river’s edge. The fire moved rapidly eastward, westward and southward, spreading to tenements buildings housing mill workers and their families. Citizens struggled against frostbite while hauling buckets of water up the banks of the river to the waiting reservoir of the Mechanic.
Men rapidly pushed and pulled on the handles of the Mechanic, forcing the icy water supply through the frosty hoses and nozzles that were trained onto the rapidly spreading flames, which had burned as far as Maine Street, along Mill, Bow and Union streets.
When the conflagration was over, both the Brunswick Cotton Manufactory and the Maine Cotton and Woolen Factory were laid waste in a heap of smoldering ruins. “Two stores, a grist mill, and two sawmills” were also gone. Five tenement houses were destroyed, and “a number of mechanic shops” had vanished, while many other buildings suffered repairable damages.
In all, 33 buildings were leveled. Eleven families consisting of 68 people were now homeless, and at least 50 people were now out of work, leaving the Christmas wishes of many of Brunswick’s youth also in ruins.
The Great Brunswick Fire of 1825 was a hard-learned lesson which led to the purchase of a state-of-the-art hand pumper affectionately called “the Hydraulian.” Twenty-five men were committed to the crew of the Hydraulian and the Washington Fire Club morphed into Brunswick’s first organized volunteer fire company.
Volunteers were required “to keep, in readiness for use, a canvass bag, a bed key and two leather fire buckets.” The canvass bags helped firemen to save family heirlooms, the two leather buckets were used to bring water to the pumper and to extinguish flames, while the bed keys were carried to disassemble the family bed so that it too could be saved from fire.
By 1826, the Brunswick Watch Association was formed to patrol the town and specifically look for fires and to exert some measure of fire prevention. Fifty men now swelled the ranks of Brunswick’s firefighting volunteers, and a formal move was planned to purchase a new engine and build a new engine house.
Ten years later, in November 1836, the village of Brunswick was charged with “the construction of reservoirs and aqueducts for the procuring of water” to assist fire companies in fighting conflagrations, and the order also called for the “organizing and maintaining of an efficient fire department,” while the town further sought “to devise ways and means for protecting the village against fire.”
By 1885, the Town of Brunswick owned four hand tubs. The “Niagara No. 3,” the third hand tub pumper to bear that name, was purchased and remained in service until 1919. Today, the “Niagara No. 3” is on display at the Brunswick Fire Department’s new central fire station on Pleasant Street.
Today, the Great Brunswick Fire of 1825 is remembered as a historic event that transformed our town and still offers hard-learned lessons from one of the more locally disastrous of our Stories from Maine.
Lori-Suzanne Dell is a Brunswick author and historian. She has published four books and runs the “Stories from Maine” Facebook page.
As a new legislative session begins, Mainers are asking a simple, familiar question: What comes next, and how do we not just get by but actually thrive in such tumultuous times?
After years shaped by COVID, economic whiplash and political chaos, that question feels heavier than it used to. Mainers know what they need to succeed: a safe and stable place to live, health care they can count on, and a fair shot at getting ahead without burning out or falling behind. They want to know that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can build a life that feels secure, dignified and hopeful — the ultimate American dream.
That’s the lens guiding our work this session.
Economists are warning of unprecedented uncertainty ahead. From sweeping federal budget cuts and erratic tariff policies to lingering economic impacts from shutdowns and declining tourism, Maine is already feeling the immense weight. Just like Maine families do every day, the state has to plan responsibly for what we know is affecting us and what we can’t yet predict.
Despite these challenges, Maine remains on solid footing because of choices we have made together in recent years. We have focused on investing in education, workforce development, health care and economic growth — and because of those investments, our labor market remains stable. But inflation is still squeezing household budgets, consumer confidence is low and too many families feel like they are one unexpected expense away from a financial crisis.
At its core, this session is about delivering results that Mainers deserve. That means we must protect the fundamentals they rely on and create the conditions to actually thrive, not just survive.
One of the most important is keeping people housed and healthy, even as federal support grows less reliable. Housing and health care are not luxuries; they are the foundation that allows families to work, care for loved ones and stay rooted in their communities. This session, we will work to protect manufactured housing communities, expand affordable housing options and ensure seniors, veterans and working families can stay in their homes. Last session, we fully funded MaineCare through 2027 and expanded coverage to include doula care and hearing aids. In the year ahead, as Washington pulls back — including the failure to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies — Maine will step up. We will work to strengthen emergency medical services, protect access to reproductive and behavioral health care, expand dental care, and reduce the crushing burden of medical debt. No one should have to sacrifice their home or health because of cost.
It also means being honest about what’s weighing people down right now and lowering everyday costs wherever we can. From grocery bills and utility prices to prescription drugs, too many essentials are eating away at family budgets. We shouldn’t be making life harder for people who are already stretching every dollar. This session, we’re focused on practical relief by targeting energy costs, improving access to affordable medications and easing the pressures that hit working families first.
We will also continue leveling the playing field. Too often, systems are designed to favor large corporations over everyday people. This session, we will strengthen consumer protections, crack down on predatory practices and ensure Mainers aren’t punished for getting sick or trying to stay afloat.
And even in uncertain times, we must keep our eyes on the future. Ensuring a brighter tomorrow means continued investment in child care, education, workforce development and climate resilience — because every generation deserves a fair shot at a better life than the one before it.
When federal decisions create chaos or cut vital supports, Maine will respond with reliability. We will do everything in our power to honor our commitments, protect essential services like schools and health care, and shield Maine people from the worst impacts.
The work ahead will require careful budgeting, bipartisan cooperation and a firm commitment to making progress where we can. But Maine has faced uncertainty before, and each time, we have met it by looking out for one another and doing the hard, disciplined work required.
That’s our North Star this session: protecting the basics people depend on, expanding opportunity where we can and making sure Maine is a place where people don’t just endure uncertain times — they can build something better, no matter what lies ahead.
Mattie Daughtry represents state Senate District 23, Brunswick, Chebeague Island, Freeport, Harpswell, Pownal and part of Yarmouth in the Maine Senate. She also serves as Maine’s Senate president. She can be reached at [email protected] or 207-287-1515.
A student was killed in a crash involving a school bus in southern Maine on Tuesday morning, officials say.
The crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. near Edna Libby Elementary School in Standish, authorities said, and MSAD 6 School Superintendent Clay Gleason told News Center Maine it involved a student and a school bus.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed that an elementary school student was struck by an MSAD 6 school bus and died at the scene. He said Route 35 was shut down between Route 114 and Moody Road for the crash investigation.
MSAD 6 serves the towns of Buxton, Hollis, Limington, Standish, and Frye Island. Standish is a town with about 11,000 residents about 15 miles west of Portland.
The child who died was a student at Edna Libby Elementary School, the school district said. Joyce said only one student was on the bus at the time of the crash — the half-brother of the student who was killed.
“The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, along with other law enforcement agencies, will be reconstructing the accident, providing more information as we get it,” Joyce said. “What we do know now is we have a child that’s deceased. It’s tough anytime of the year, but not a good time of the year for a lot of families.”
Gleason said Edna Libby Elementary School planned to dismiss students at 11:30 a.m. to allow parents or caregivers to be with their children and for staff to receive support. All after school activities in the district were canceled, though the school day went on as scheduled in all other district schools.
“I have been in communication with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and a full investigation will be forthcoming to determine how this tragic accident took place,” Gleason said in a message to the school community. “In this difficult time please keep those directly impacted in your thoughts – first and foremost the family of the student, as well as the students and staff of Edna Libby. Speculation or blame on social media is not productive or helpful and is disrespectful to the memory of the student and their family.”
Support services are being provided for the bus driver and the family, Joyce said.
No additional information has been released, but officials said they expect to have more to say later in the day.
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