Jail’s woodworking program survives shop fire
A June 5 fire started here, in the paint room, of a three-bay garage that has housed Two Bridges Regional Jail’s woodworking program. Courtesy of Two Bridges Regional Jail
Brian Sylvester, left, of Plaistow, N.H., and wife Desrie Sylvester, with their golden retriever Molly listen to Naomi Bonang explain the work Two Bridges Regional Jail inmates do to make wood products sold on the Wiscasset waterfront. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
This children’s puzzle was among inmate-made products that made it to Two Bridges Regional Jail’s Wiscasset waterfront kiosk before fire struck the jail’s woodworking shop. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
A heavily damaged window area in the paint room looks into an office on the other side. Courtesy of Two Bridges Regional Jail
The center work room sustained less fire, smoke, water and heat damage than some other parts of the wood shop, but even the table saw that looks untouched may have heat damage, Industries Department Lieutenant Naomi Bonang said. Courtesy of Two Bridges Regional Jail
A June 5 fire started here, in the paint room, of a three-bay garage that has housed Two Bridges Regional Jail’s woodworking program. Courtesy of Two Bridges Regional Jail
Brian Sylvester, left, of Plaistow, N.H., and wife Desrie Sylvester, with their golden retriever Molly listen to Naomi Bonang explain the work Two Bridges Regional Jail inmates do to make wood products sold on the Wiscasset waterfront. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
This children’s puzzle was among inmate-made products that made it to Two Bridges Regional Jail’s Wiscasset waterfront kiosk before fire struck the jail’s woodworking shop. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
A heavily damaged window area in the paint room looks into an office on the other side. Courtesy of Two Bridges Regional Jail
The center work room sustained less fire, smoke, water and heat damage than some other parts of the wood shop, but even the table saw that looks untouched may have heat damage, Industries Department Lieutenant Naomi Bonang said. Courtesy of Two Bridges Regional Jail
Naomi Bonang doesn't know when the woodworking program at Two Bridges Regional Jail will restart after a fire damaged the building that houses it; but it will, she said.
Bonang is lieutenant of the industries department at the Wiscasset jail, which takes inmates from several counties and the Maine State Prison. The woodworking and other programs run as businesses, with the inmates as workers. Between the woodworking and a related craft program that paints many of the wooden items, Bonang estimated the June 5, accidental fire impacted the jobs of about a dozen inmates.
The jobs pay $1.50 an hour, with one-fourth going to fines and restitution the inmates owe, and another quarter toward their room and board. The other 75 cents is theirs.
The sales of the products they make, from Adirondack tables to camp chairs and lobster claw back scratchers, fund the program and benefit Toys for Tots and other community service work.
Inmates tend a garden that yields about two tons of produce a year, to donate to seven food pantries in Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties.
That and the woodworking and other programs build teamwork, job skills and confidence.
To be hired, inmates have to have finished high school or be working toward it; filled out a job application, gotten officers' references, and be incident-free for 30 days.
“What I'm really trying to instill is that just because they've made mistakes doesn't mean they don't have something they can give back to the community.
“It's a feeling of pride, a feeling of accomplishment,” Bonang said.
Much of Bonang's optimism for an upcoming restart to production stems from the efforts she has observed from Two Bridges' correctional administrator, Mark Westrum. He has moved quickly on insurance and other matters to try to get the program back on track as soon as possible, Bonang said.
“If it wasn't for his due diligence, I don't know how long it would take,” she said. “He has been relentless.”
Bonang said, because she heads the program, she takes full responsibility for the fire, traced to combustion of linseed oil in the paint room.
The one bright spot is the reminder it can serve about proper handling of oils and other products anyone might have in their basement, she said. In the program's eight years, great care has been taken to ensure the safety of inmates and staff, she said.
“Prior to this, we have barely had a splinter.”
After Bonang and the jail's correctional administrator Mark Westrum meet with a structural engineer, they'll be able to hone in on next steps for the wood shop. Bonang said a temporary setup with limited tools might be one option to resume the program.
She's hoping the woodworking will restart in as early as three weeks, in part because that's about when she expects to be out or nearly out of products to sell. The fire claimed wood, tools and a large stock of products that were bound for the program’s kiosk on the Wiscasset waterfront.
A small number of nearly finished items were spared because they were outside the building.
Sales at the kiosk have been incredible since it opened on Memorial Day weekend, Bonang said. It's the first year the products have been sold directly to consumers; the first several years of the program, gift shops bought them for resale.
Manning the kiosk under a brightening sky on June 14, Bonang told visitors about the inmates' work.
“That's a good thing. That's a great thing,” Brian Sylvester of Plaistow, N.H., said about the program.
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