Blaze at armory began in kitchen, investigators say Equipment saved for deployment

SKOWHEGAN – Nearly all of the 60 citizen-soldiers in the Maine Army National Guard who are assigned to the Maine State Armory in Skowhegan stood by Wednesday night watching their facility be consumed by fire. By Thursday, as daylight revealed the extent of the fire’s damage, they continued to stop by and stare.

“This is an emotional time,” commented Maj. Dwaine Drummond, the battalion’s executive officer. “Some of these soldiers have been coming here for drills for more than 20 years. Not only are they watching their ‘home away from home’ burn, but it is a holiday and they are due to be deployed within the month.”

Outside the armory, an American flag, saved from the fire by a firefighter, was stuck in a pallet of cases of bottled water. “That says we’re still here,” said Staff Sgt. Chad Steward, on duty guarding the facility.

Firefighters from nine communities fought the blaze Wednesday night and Thursday morning on North School Street in Skowhegan. State Fire Marshal’s Office investigators came directly to the scene and it was determined the fire began in the kitchen area and likely was accidental.

Drummond said the soldiers had left the facility about an hour before the blaze was reported and had conducted a safety inspection before they left. No meals were being prepared there, he said, since all dinners were catered.

The building was the home of the Maine Army National Guard’s 133rd Engineering Battalion, whose parent unit is A Company of Belfast. The citizen-soldiers assigned to the Skowhegan facility are due to be deployed overseas in December.

The fire, which destroyed the wooden exterior portions of the building, the roof, and the offices, kitchen and storage areas around the central auditorium, was called in at 6:25 p.m. by a neighbor.

Skowhegan Fire Chief Steve Miller said firefighters remained on the scene until 3 a.m. “I got home just in time to take a shower and return back here to take care of flare-ups,” he said Thursday, standing in the cold morning air.

Miller pointed out that a false roof encircling the building caused the fire to shoot from the kitchen area at the rear of the armory to the front storage bay littered with generators. The roof, he said, drew the fire away from the center of the building where much of the 133rd’s equipment was being inventoried for the impending deployment.

“The fire certainly had a good head start by the time we arrived,” he said.

Athens Fire Chief Chad Steward also is a staff sergeant in the Guard and assigned to the Skowhegan facility. “I heard it on the scanner, called another soldier, and drove right down here,” he said. Steward was guarding the facility at dawn but said, “The building was fully involved with fire when I got here last night.”

First Sgt. Anthony Prest of Belfast explained that the 133rd is a detachment of A Company of the Guard, a battalion that comprises carpenters, plumbers and engineers. “They are scheduled to be deployed in December and everything from uniforms to weapons was inside.” There was no ammunition stored inside and all vehicles were parked away from the building. They were not damaged.

“It looks a lot better inside than outside,” he added.

Prest said the deployment will proceed as scheduled. “It won’t slow us down a bit,” he said. “Starting Friday, the soldiers will be bused back and forth to the Belfast armory.”

Prest said, “Everyone from the private to the general was here last night.” Miller added that their help was invaluable. “They even stretched fire hoses. It was a great job.”

Colonel James Tinkham of the U.S. Property and Fiscal Office was on hand Thursday morning to assess the damage. “We’ll have to assess the property loss, but of course with the pending mobilization, we’ll acquire everything they will need,” he said.

Tinkham praised the local firefighters for keeping the fire from destroying valuable equipment at the center of the building.

He also said it is unlikely the soldiers will find a new facility waiting when they return home in 18 months. “The system doesn’t work that fast,” he said.

When the fire first was reported, security was ordered at all of Maine’s armories, Tinkham confirmed. “It was purely precautionary,” he said. Those security details were removed by midmorning Thursday.