WATERVILLE — A pickup truck reported burst into flames late Thursday on Williams Street in the South End, but details were slim Friday morning due to an order not to speak to the media placed on the Fire Department by City Administrator Michael Roy.

The order comes in the wake of the drowning of a six-year-old boy this week and public comments by firefighters about delays in getting help during the emergency.

According to the communications center radio log, hedges were on fire at 11:34 p.m. at a garage at the corner of 65 Summer St. and 2 Williams St.

Tim Acorn, who reported the fire from his Williams Street home, said he feared his garage would catch fire. It did not.

“I was just sitting in there watching TV when all of a sudden I looked out here and there was flames up there, eight, 10 feet high and it kind of scared me when it was that close to my garage and all the building here.

He said the truck, owned by his neighbor, was destroyed.

Doug Harlow
Staff Writer