Kennebunk firefighters put out fire on Maine turnpike while not harming bees

Kennebunk firefighters took care not to harm honey bees when responding to a recent fire.

Kennebunk Fire-Rescue was dispatched to the Maine Turnpike on Tuesday for a vehicle fire, according to post on the department’s Facebook page. When firefighters arrived on scene, they discovered that a car had rear-ended a tractor trailer hauling honey bees.

According to the Fire-Rescue department, after firefighters extinguished the fire they were requested to stream water in a “rain down method” to simulate a rain storm to calm down the agitated bees and get them to return to the hive.

“In other regions of the country where fire rescue encounters Africanized bees, protocol to address life threatening attacks is to utilize foam in our hose line which asphyxiates them quickly,” said the Kennebunk Fire -Rescue. “No honey bees were harmed by our response.”

This was the second time in a week a tractor trailer hauling bees was involved in a crash on the Maine Turnpike.

State Troopers responded to a tractor trailer rollover in I-95 in Clinton on the evening of May 9, said Shannon Moss, public information officer with the Maine Department of Public Safety in a press release. The truck was hauling about 15 million bees, and the driver has headed to Washington County were the bees were to pollinate blueberry fields, said Moss. 

The driver in last week’s accident was transported to the hospital with complaints of pain, said Moss. The bees were mostly contained, and the goal was to save them, she said.

Saco Bay News Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.