People, dogs OK; cats die in French Island fire

OLD TOWN – No people were hurt and three dogs were revived in a fire Thursday afternoon at a Union Street apartment building on French Island.

Three cats perished during the fire in the two-story building.

Black smoke could be seen coming from windows of both stories as well as the roof while crews from four towns worked to extinguish the fire.

All of the tenants made it out of the building, and no humans were injured. It was not clear how many people live in the structure.

All of the dogs owned by tenants in the building escaped or were removed by firefighters.

Three were revived using animal resuscitation equipment that was just put on the Old Town firetrucks Wednesday, said Deputy Fire Chief James Lavoie.

Firefighters in the first engine at the scene saw light smoke coming from the building, but there had been a lot of remodeling done to the approximately 100-year-old structure.

The fire spread and got between the first and second floors – “which is pretty difficult to get to,” Lavoie said. “A lot of time we wouldn’t be as fortunate as we are here.”

The buildings on French Island are very close together, and most are old, making fire danger even more extreme.

A similar situation recently occurred in the western Maine town of Rumford, where five homes were destroyed in one fire.

“We could have easily had four or five buildings gone today,” he said.

The building’s owner, T.J. Buck, was at the scene and said one of his tenants told him the fire appeared to have started in the first-floor laundry room. Buck said the building is insured.

Lavoie said there was heavy water and smoke damage to the building, as well as damage from chain saws and axes that had to be used to get through walls and the ceiling.

Thursday’s weather also created difficulty for firefighters.

“On a hot day like today … we’re going through a lot of firefighters,” Lavoie said. He noted that it doesn’t take long for exhaustion and dehydration to set in under hot, humid conditions.

Suppression efforts turned into a community event, with neighbors pitching in to provide cold water for firefighters, carrying oxygen tanks to vehicles so they could be refilled at the Milford fire station, and offering air-conditioned rooms in their homes for fire crews to recoup.

Crews from Orono, Milford and Bangor assisted Old Town.

Lavoie said the fire likely started on the first floor, but an investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office has been called.

“We’re going to be here for a long time,” Lavoie said. He expected that Old Town crews would be checking for hot spots throughout Thursday evening and said they may have to return today to finish cleaning up.