Fraternity house fire causes $2,000 damage

ORONO – An early morning fire caused about $2,000 in fire and water damage to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house at the University of Maine.

The 20 residents of the SAE house were evacuated and no injuries were reported, according to Orono Fire Chief Lorin LeCleire.

The Orono Fire Department received a fire alarm and a sprinkler alarm at 3:17 a.m. from the fraternity house at 117 College Ave, LeCleire said. Fire crews arrived five minutes later to find smoke coming from the building and a fire in a third-floor bedroom.

The fire had been confined to the one bedroom because of the sprinkler system and fire crews had to do only minimal work to extinguish the fire, LeCleire said.

The cause of the fire was an article of clothing that had been left on a hot lamp, LeCleire said. The inhabitant of the room, who was asleep when the fire started, was very lucky to have made it out, LeCleire said.

“I can only say that if this building had not had a sprinkler system, we could have had potentially tragic consequences,” LeCleire said, adding that people should always be careful not to place combustibles near heat sources such as lamps or stoves.

The damage was confined mostly to the one room, although the first and second floors also had some water damage, he said.

All of the residents of the fraternity house will be displaced for a couple of days while the sprinkler is reset, some electrical problems are fixed and the room is rebuilt, LeCleire said.

The students were offered other housing on campus, but all declined in favor of staying with friends in dorms and other residences, according to UM officials.

The Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross assisted at the scene by providing clothing, bedding and toiletries to the affected students.