Aid rises from the ashes

By LISA KRISTOFF
Staff Reporter

    On the afternoon of the fire, Senator Susan Collins released this statement:
“I am so saddened to learn about the loss of this facility and the many workers and their families who will be hurt by this devastating event. My office has been in touch with the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency and the Town Manager to offer assistance. We have also contacted the U.S. Department of Labor to notify them about the large number of employees whose jobs will be affected. It is my hope that Washburn & Doughty can rebuild as quickly as possible, and I stand ready to assist in this effort.”

    Senator Olympia Snowe related a message with a similar tone: “The news of this morning’s fire and subsequent devastation of the Washburn & Doughty Shipyard is distressing and untimely. My thoughts are with the employees of this family-owned shipbuilding company and the community that surrounds it. I offer my full support of the workers and families whose livelihoods will be affected by this tragic event. We have reached out to Boothbay’s Town Manager and my staff will be attending Monday’s Rapid Response session to provide any and all resources and support to help rebuild and restore this critical shipbuilding facility.”

    And Democratic Rep. Tom Allen of the 1st District said “I am grateful to the first responders from the many municipalities who responded in a timely fashion to the fire. Their rapid response resulted in the safe evacuation of approximately 85 employees on-site at the time of the blaze. I stand committed to working with Gov. Baldacci and the congressional delegation to assist the company and its work force in recovering from this tragic event.”

    That recovery began for the employees at the Maine Department of Labor’s (DOL) Rapid Response session held early on the morning of Monday, July 14 at the East Boothbay Methodist Church.
Employees gathered on the site of the devastated shipyard before attending the session with shipyard owners Washburn and Doughty and then walked to the church.

    While assembling at the yard, several workers commented on how the reality of the tragedy and their employment status was just setting in. Jason Johnson, employed at the shipyard for five years said, “It just didn’t register – that it happened – until yesterday. I have heard that they want to keep us working. I have also heard that they will be giving us pink slips.”

    Security guard Connie Libby of Newcastle said she had worked until midnight – but the news traveled fast – and she learned of the fire prior to a call from the company. “I felt so bad for Mr. Doughty and Mr. Washburn and for all of the workers,” said Libby. “The workers lost all of their tools in the fire and now they have nothing. It’s a huge loss for everyone.”
Employee Mike Kenney, who has been at the shipyard for 10 years, heard the company wanted to keep the employees working – something he was hoping would happen.

    Maine Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman, Rufus Sames and a team from the DOL were on site to talk to the workers about their options and advise them on unemployment benefits and other areas of impact on their lives, post-fire.
William Card, representative from Senator Collins’ office said, “We want to be as helpful as we can and assist the owners and employees as much as we can, we are waiting to see what the owners’ plans are. Then we can discuss the ways the senators can help.”

    One such option Card mentioned was the National Emergency Grant awarded in cases of sudden and severe job dislocation. Sames, of the DOL, said that if the yard wanted to ensure not losing their employees, a work search waiver could be put into effect; this waiver would remove the requirement that they had to look for jobs.
Unfortunately, for 65 employees, recovery did not include employment. “It was the hardest thing I had to do,” said Doughty following the session. “To look them in their faces and tell them we had to let them go.”

    Following the meeting at the church a crew of the 35 workers being kept on returned to work - on the hull of the 92-foot tug that had miraculously gone unharmed. Included in those let go were sub-contracted employees from companies including CCI Construction and Development (Christian Construction) out of Mobile, Alabama and Perennial out of Tennessee. Workers from these companies are now relying on them to find other jobs within the state or elsewhere.
Doughty said that during the session the workers had been told that Newport News in Virginia was hiring as well as the yard in Kittery.

    Deborah Elliott of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Office of Business Development was on hand to talk to workers and relate information on what assistance could be applied for.
The upshot is that workers see themselves in a “really bad situation .. and without tools to go to another job.”
One very new employee from Tennessee, had only clocked in two and a half days: “I really don’t know what I am going to do. I only have a few days pay coming and I have lost all of my tools. For most of us, it has taken a long time to acquire all of the gear and equipment. At this point, even if Perennial found me another job – I have no gas to get there and no tools to use once I arrive.”

    Doughty has asked the employees, including the 65 who have been let go, to compile a tool list - as quickly as possible - that Doughty will submit to the insurance company. “A lot of the guys said they could give me a list on the spot,” Doughty said.
Doughty added that, based on conversations he had had with the company, “…they are not going to hold us up.”

    Fortunately, insurance agents were on the scene beginning on the day of the blaze that will aid in the accelerated assessing needed to move on toward rebuilding and employment. The agents were on the scene during the session, as was the Fire Marshal and other agencies.

    In the meantime, as workers figure out where they, and their families, go from here, state agencies, like the DECD and DOL will be there to help.

    However, even those that can collect unemployment are looking at a maximum weekly benefit of $344. And, as one distraught worker related, “How can I support my wife and baby, make car payments and keep a roof over our heads on that after earning $1,200 a week?”

    Doughty said that they would certainly want to bring the workers back once the yard was up and running again. But, with that kind of income gap, most of those laid off will not be in the position to be able to wait and will have to find jobs elsewhere.
On the local front, the Town of Boothbay immediately set up a fund to assist the workers and their families during the transition. Anyone wishing to contribute to this fund can send checks, made payable to the Town of Boothbay with the memo line designating that the contribution is for the “W & D Fund.” As of July 14, the Town of Boothbay had already distributed $500 to some employees. Questions, should be directed to Marian Anderson at 633-2192 or 380-7281.

    Boothbay Town Manager John Anderson advises that the town’s general assistance fund is also available to provide temporary assistance for those Washburn & Doughty workers residing in Boothbay.
Boothbay Harbor’s Town Manager, Tom Woodin, said general assistance for W & D employees residing there would “most certainly” be available to help workers residing in Boothbay Harbor.

    The Boothbay Region Land Trust has also set up a fund for Washburn & Doughty employees called the “Washburn and Doughty Employees Fund.” Checks can be mailed to First Federal Savings & Loan, P.O. Box 26, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538. Contributions may also be mailed to the Boothbay Region Land Trust, P.O. Box 183, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538.
Said BRLT Executive Director Julie Lamy in a recent press release, “Helping our friends at Washburn & Doughty, who have been so supportive of our Boat Builders’ Festival, goes along with our efforts to support the region’s working waterfront.

    “Many of them worked with their own tools and will not be able to get another job without them. It seems we might be able to raise some funds to help cover these immediate needs.”

    The Future
    Doughty said that one unknown at this time is how much of the damaged tugs in the 50,000 square-foot building is salvageable.  “The time sequence is very important here. I know the sprinkler system was working, because I got soaked. The fire department was hooked up to our outside main, but at some point the water pressure was lost,” said Doughty.
Up to that point, the hulls of the tugs were being kept cool. This determination will determine the final damage total.

    The day of the fire damage estimates were reported by WGME 13 to be a staggering $100 million. Later that day during an MPBN broadcast, Governor John Baldacci said the fire caused about $30 million worth of damage.

    Whatever the final figure for damages turns out to be, cleanup of the remains of the shipyard will begin the journey that leads to rebuilding. A professional company is being called in to handle this initial phase that is sure to uncover more hot spots.
Insurance claims will be filed, a design for the new structure will be decided upon and then the rebuilding can begin.
Doughty said they estimate that once they are ready to begin the actual rebuilding, they are planning on a six-month time frame, but only time will tell.

    Ironically, demolition was scheduled to begin later this summer, following a tug launch on August 22, to make way for an addition on the east side of the now destroyed building.
Prior to the fire, Doughty said they had planned to be set up in that addition in December of this year.
“Now that all the prep work (site evaluation, permits, etc.) has already been done it will probably take less time to begin building,” Doughty said.

    The designs of the vessels Washburn & Doughty have built in the past, particularly the old ones drawn on paper, have been lost; the recent designs, thanks to the new computer server-based network, were backed up and safe off-site.
The yard still has projects in the offing. Strangely enough, at the moment the fire ensued, Doughty was meeting with prospective clients to sign a contract for two tug projects. Doughty said they still want to have the tugs built by Washburn & Doughty despite the disaster that played out while they were on-site.

    State Representative Bruce MacDonald attended the employee meeting and assured the state would work to advance the reconstruction of the shipyard as quickly as was possible. “There is a role that the state can play, there is unemployment insurance for workers and once we find out about the other insurances, we can try to move things along with a minimum of red tape,” said MacDonald.

    Residents, neighbors and businesses have been calling Doughty expressing their sorrow over the loss of the yard and their support.

    “You just don’t realize what you have sometimes, everyone has been so great,” said Doughty. “I was with my daughters Sunday and it was windy. All I could think was that if the wind had been like it was then on Friday…it would have been unlikely that they [fire departments] could have saved half the town.”

    Fortunately, the “saving the town” scenario did not become a reality. The reality was bad enough.
But, like the strong, state-of-the-art, impeccably built tugs the shipyard is known for, Washburn & Doughty will return to the East Boothbay landscape, and its vessels to the sea, and all will be as it should be once more.