Vietnam vet, ex-police chief gets help from York volunteers to replace mold-infested home

YORK, Maine — Wayne Avery said he couldn’t let his friend Tom Barr stay in his mobile home on Punkintown Road infested with black mold.

Barr, 76, a Purple Heart Vietnam veteran and former Eliot, Maine police chief, spent the summer at his home in Rangeley, Maine, and came home to find a hole in his roof and an unlivable amount of black mold. Avery discovered the mold while visiting to check Barr’s furnace.

“I said, 'You can’t stay in there,'” said Avery, who owns the HVAC business Dr. Heat and Mr. Cool in York.

Avery has since rallied dozens of people in town to help Barr, who lives on the York-Eliot line. They are working to remove Barr’s mold-infested home and replace it with another they hope to find on the mobile home market.

In the meantime, Barr is being hosted for free by a local hotel, according to Avery. The volunteers also acquired a small camper with a pellet stove that Avery said Barr could use this winter. A GoFundMe page has raised $7,870 to help with the costs of replacing Barr’s home.

Over the weekend, about 25 to 30 people were on Barr’s property filling dumpsters provided for free by Eldredge Lumber to prepare for the impending removal of the mobile home. Avery said they hoped the job could be done in one day, but people were willing to return Sunday to keep working.

“I can’t believe it,” Barr said. “Really, people have been amazing.”

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Tom Barr a Vietnam veteran, former Eliot police chief

Barr has lived in Eliot almost his entire life.

In 1967, Barr was sent to Vietnam with the Army’s 25th Infantry Division. He said his unit fought along the Ho Chi Minh trail, a system of roads and trails that ran from north to south and was used by the North Vietnamese Army and the Vietcong.

Between 1967 and 1968, Barr said he earned his Purple Heart.

“We were under attack,” Barr said. “I got some shrapnel in my neck.”

Barr said the wound left lasting damage he still feels in his neck.

“It bothers me,” Barr said.

Barr returned to Elliot after serving in Vietnam and came to Punkintown Road, where he said he has lived since about 1970. Two years later, he joined the Eliot Police Department as a patrolman and worked his way up to chief.

After law enforcement, Barr switched careers. He worked for Davis Oil, which was eventually bought by P. Gagnon & Son, for about 15 years. It was through the oil business that Barr met Avery.

Now retired, Barr lives alone. He was married before, he said, and in the years after retiring, he took care of his mother. He spends his summers at his small home in Rangely, Maine, which is not winterized. In the winter, he returns to Punkintown Road.

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Barr’s home infested with black mold

Barr said he was shocked when he returned home from his summer away to find his mobile home in Eliot badly damaged from rain that had caused his roof to cave in.

“I was gone for six months,” Barr said. “The shingles gave way to all the rain while I was gone.”

As a result, he said, black mold had grown all over the home.

“It did its thing,” Barr said. “It wasn’t there when I left.”

Barr lived in the home for a couple of weeks before Avery discovered the black mold earlier this month. He said he knew he had to act fast as cold temperatures were approaching in the coming weeks. He posted on Facebook seeking help in places like the “York Community Dialogue (Maine)” Facebook page.

The response was fast, he said.

“It was like an eruption,” Avery said. “It just morphed from there.”

Avery said Barr slept in his truck before a hotelier agreed to let him have a room until Nov. 25. The hotelier prefers to remain anonymous, according to Avery.

Crews of volunteers from around York, where Avery’s business is located, arrived Saturday morning. For two days, they did everything from raking and cleaning up debris from the property to grilling burgers and hot dogs to keep volunteers fueled.

Meanwhile, Avery began hunting online for something more permanent for Barr to stay. They found a camper owned by a friend of Avery’s listed for $1,000 on Facebook Marketplace. Avery reached out, and the people with the trailer offered to donate it upon hearing Barr’s story.

Avery called York police Sunday to ask for an escort in transporting the oversized camper from York to Eliot. He said York police told them they would be there in 20 minutes, and the officers guided the camper all the way to Barr’s address. He said a police escort helped direct cars off to the side of the road to make way for the camper.

Normally, he said, a camper would be too cold to endure the winter in Maine. This camper has been used in past winters, however, and has a pellet stove, according to Avery. Now he hopes to get the camper hooked up to Barr’s septic system and water line, as well as check to make sure there are no broken pipes.

Once that is taken care of and electricity is connected to the camper, Avery said, Barr will be able to come home and stay there. The hope is to get him back to Punkintown Road before he runs out of nights staying at the nearby hotel.

“That’s what we’re aiming for,” Avery said. “Get him in before the 25th.”

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Efforts to find new permanent mobile home still underway

Efforts to find an available mobile home to live in permanently have been challenging. Avery said there was hope that a mobile home in Wells for $10,600 would be the answer, one volunteer saying he had the cash to go buy it immediately. The home had rotten floors, however, and was missing parts needed to move the home. He said the group is on the lookout for another option.

Avery said they have been working with Anchor Real Estate to find another home on the market. They have been told it may cost around $40,000. He said they are still $20,000 short of reaching that goal.

Anchor Real Estate added to the donations Tuesday by cutting a check for $2,500 as well as donating a new stove. Jeremy Reynolds, co-owner of the real estate firm, said they knew there was just short of $8,000 on the GoFundMe page and wanted to get the donation total over the $10,000 mark. He said they are paying directly to avoid GoFundMe's fees.

"We're trying to put it out to other businesses in the community to see if they could match it or potentially bring more people to the plate," Reynolds said.

Avery said helping Barr was a no-brainer when he saw the condition of his home. He said he would help anyone in trouble, but that someone who was once in the military and wounded in combat needs to have the support of those around him.

“A Purple Heart, you don’t find those on every block,” Avery said. “Those guys are a little more deserving.”

Barr said it still has not sunk in that he has lost his home. He said he has some concerns about how the winter will go, but he said he feels good in the hands of Avery and the people who have rushed to help him.

“I get nervous,” Barr said. “I trust Wayne.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Vietnam vet helped by York volunteers to replace mold-infested home