10 tenants flee Seventh Street fire

Ten people were temporarily without a home Friday night after a fire caused extensive damage to their Bangor apartment house.

Tenants living at the seven-unit building at 66-68 Seventh St. were all uninjured, but the building received heavy smoke, fire, and water damage.

The fire was called in to the Bangor Fire Department at 8:45 and it took firefighters about a half hour to get the fire under control. Using chainsaws, firefighters cut holes into the roof releasing billowing clouds of smoke from the house.

Neighbors and residents reported that soon after they were alerted to the fire, flames could be seen shooting out from the second story windows.

Capt. Mike Andersen of the Bangor Fire Department said that the fire is believed to have started in the kitchen of the second floor apartment at 68 Seventh St.

He said it was too early to tell what caused the fire but speculated it may have started in an electric stove. He said firefighters found the stove still on when they entered the kitchen.

All the apartments were damaged. Larry Johnston, 24, a resident who was at work when the fire started said that his basement apartment had received heavy water damage, flowing down from the apartments above.

Johnston said that many safety precautions were taken with this house, which is more than 100 years old. Fire retardant was sprayed throughout the inside of the building last week, he said.

“Everything was up to grade,” Johnston said.

The building’s owner, Jim Hawes, said the building has 17 fire alarms which probably saved the house from further damage.

“Everybody got out real quickly,” he said.