Sorry to keep questioning these statements, but the part about the
fire department being unable to respond to a fire in the Haskell
Library sounds like a belief tale. I think there are a pair of towns
in Maine that actually share a volunteer fire department.
Unforntunately I cannot substantiate this yet but I will do some more
looking. In the mean time, take a look at this link from the
Limestone Maine Fire Department. It talks about mutual aid from
surrounding towns including Grand Falls, which is in New Brunswick.
http://www.limestonemaine.com/~fire_dept/
Regards,
BJB
--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., Dallen Timothy <dtimothy@a...> wrote:
> Hi Jesper,
> Yes, the border officials are still pretty strict with this
regulation.
> Anyone who doesn't report and immigration/customs risks huge fines
and/or
> imprisonment. There are (were in 1996 at least) video cameras
along the
> street to monitor any illegal crossings.
>
> There is an interesting story (hopefully I haven't told it before)
about the
> Haskell Library and the video cameras. Several years ago, the
librarian,
> who lived in the Canadian side of town, took a small space heater
into work
> with her because it was extra cold that day and she wanted to keep
her feet
> warm. She parked her car in Canada, but the front door of the
library is in
> the United States, so she had to walk through a small piece of the
US to get
> to work. Within five minutes of arriving at work, there was a
knock at the
> door (she hadn't unlocked it yet)--it was a US Customs official.
He said
> "what did you carry into work with you". Of course she explained
it was the
> small heater and that she was planning to take it back home with
her. Her
> answer was satisfactory to the officer.
>
> The other story is that the small black line that's painted on the
floor of
> the Haskell building is marked not for tourists, but for insurance
and
> regulatory purposes. Many years ago a fire broke out in on the
Canadian
> side of the library. The librarian unintentionally called the fire
> department of the US community, who were not permitted to put out
the fire
> because it was on the other side of the room. So, more damage was
done
> before the Quebec fire department could arrive to put out the
fire. Now,
> with the black line in place, they'll know which side of the border
to call.
> This is the story that is told of the Haskell building--not sure
how much
> truth there is to it, but it sounds feasible given the other
conditions I've
> seen along the border in that area.
>
> Cheers,
> Dallen