Staff Writer 

On July 11, 1944, firefighters from South Portland and surrounding communities descended on a trailer park in what is now South Portland’s Red Bank neighborhood. 

Thornton Heights Fire Company firefighter Joe Nalbach said some crews may have traveled for nearly an hour to reach the site where an A-26 “Invader” bomber had crashed. The feiry crash destroyed multiple trailers and killed 19 people, including the pilot.

“There wasn’t a fire station in the West end,” he said. “Back then it was quite a haul to get out to Red Bank.”

Nalbach, a 45-year veteran of the Thornton Heights Fire Company, said the most difficult part of responding to the crash was probably deciding where to begin. 

“Where do you start?” he asked. “You have 19 or 20 trailers fully involved and people lying all over the place.” 

Two-year-old Karen Allen was one of those people “lying all over the place,” and one of the first people firefighters – on the scene aboard a 1940 Mac pumper truck – started the rescue operation with. 

Allen, now 65, said she and her 4-year-old brother were playing in the front yard when the plane piloted by Fee Russell – a prominent South Portland resident, former flight instructor and a combat-experienced pilot – inexplicably fell from the sky.

Even though a piece of the plane cut through the trailer where her family lived, Allen said she and her siblings only suffered burns on their hands and legs. Firefighters helped transport them to a hospital where they received treatment amidst a flood of other people injured in the crash. 

“There were so many people, you know, it must have been overwhelming,” she said. 

She and her brothers carried scars on their hands and legs after the crash, but Allen said her parents did not discuss what had happened with any of their 12 children. 

“I don’t remember a whole lot, which is probably one of the best things that could have happened,” Allen said. “If we had been older we probably would be having bad dreams.”

Now, Allen is one of three survivors that have helped inspire South Portland resident John Kierstead to raise funds for a memorial honoring victims of the crash. 

In December, Kierstead became the chairman of a five-member committee committed to designing and raising funds for the Long Creek Air Tragedy Memorial, a granite monument to be erected on a parcel of city land across the street from what Kierstead calls “ground zero.” 

“He’s worked very hard, and he didn’t even know any survivors of the crash,” Allen said of Kierstead’s efforts. 

Kierstead said the fundraising effort isn’t proceeding as quickly as expected. Although the  group has raised only about $1,000 of its $11,000 goal, the faltering economy hasn’t stopped him from raising awareness about the crash. On Memorial Day, Kierstead introduced Allen to Thornton Heights Fire Company Antique Engine Number Six, the same truck she saw arrive first on the scene more than 40 years ago. 

“I was excited, how could you not be?” Allen asked. “I got to ring the bell.”

Nalbach said the truck was used by the city from 1941 to 1966, then sold to the town of Rome in 1972 for a dollar. In 1983, the Thornton Heights Fire Company purchased the engine for $1,700 and spent the next 13 years restoring it, he said. 

“It’s seen a lot of big fires, including some in Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach,” Nalbach said. “The new trucks they have now are two-thirds larger than it and everything’s all automatic. [Engine Six] is standard and has a gasoline motor, which is really quiet. It runs like a charm.”

To make a donation to the Long Creek Air Tragedy Memorial fund, send a check payable to the city of South Portland to 25 Cottage Road, South Portland, ME, 04106.

Staff Writer Nate Jones may be reached at 282-4337 ext. 233.