Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

HARTLAND

March 22

Building damaged by fire

By Erin Rhoda erhoda@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

HARTLAND -- An apartment building owned by a state trooper was damaged early Sunday when it caught fire.

Maine State Police Sgt. Mark Brooks arrived home around 3 a.m. from a shift at work. A short while later, a member of the Hartland Fireman's Auxiliary knocked on his door to tell him the apartment building he owns at 37 Elm St. was engulfed in flames, he said.

The four people present in the four-unit apartment building got out safely, Brooks said. Even though two apartments were "extensively" damaged by fire, and all four suffered smoke damage, he said it could have been worse.

"Things can be replaced but people can't. My wife and I are most happy about that," he said.

When Hartland firefighters arrived at 4:14 a.m., "there were a lot of flames on the outside," Fire Chief Donald Neal said, "making it look bigger than it was."

The fire looked large because it started outside, Neal said. It caught hold of a porch area and spread into the roof. Firefighters put out most of the fire within a few minutes, he said, and then watered down the inside.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal's office.

"Nothing stood out as to (the cause), but it definitely started outside," said St. Albans Fire Chief Brian Crocker, whose firefighters also responded.

The four tenants, who live in three apartments in the insured building, awoke to the sound of alarms and the smell of smoke, Brooks said. One tenant called 911. Three other people, who live in the remaining apartment, were not home at the time, he said.

Tenants are staying with family "until we can figure out a timeline for rebuilding," Brooks said. "We hope to fix (the apartments) and get them back up and going."

Brooks, who works for the Orono police barracks, said, "The firemen did a great job. They got there in a short amount of time, and they are responsible for making sure there was minimum damage. It could have been a lot worse."

Neal said about 30 firefighters responded from Hartland, St. Albans and Pittsfield. Hartland firefighters cleared the scene after about four hours, at 8 a.m.

Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534

erhoda@centralmaine.com