ROCKLAND — Rockland Interim Fire Chief Adam Miceli is crediting working smoke detectors and occupants inside the building alerting each other to evacuate with making the firefighters' job at the outset a focus on controlling the fire instead of performing search and rescue.

Rockland Tower 3 was the first apparatus to arrive at the scene of the reported structure fire at 666 Main St. at 3:31 p.m. Reports of smoke coming from the building were called in by numerous people to Knox County Regional Communication Center beginning at around 3:27 p.m.

After the first unit arrived on scene, and due to the age of the building and its three-story wooden structure, the heavy smoke coming from all three floors and fire in the right rear first floor apartment, a call for mutual aid from Rockport Thomaston was immediately made.

In addition to the units from Rockport, Miceli said 14 Rockland firefighters responded, along with the city's two engines, two rescue ambulances and two support vehicles. Thomaston Fire Department was held on standby at the Rockland station in case there was another call.

The first crew stretched a hose to the apartment unit to control the fire and the second crew began a search above the fire on the second floor. Miceli said the fire was quickly contained, allowing crews to assist in verifying that all the occupants were safely out of the building.

He said that fire damage was limited to the apartment where the fire originated, but was "minutes from extending into the walls and hidden cavities of the large wooden structure."

The building, which Miceli said is owned by Erik Nelson, had seven occupied apartments, of which four occupants were home at the time of the fire. He said that due to the inability to isolate the damaged electrical circuits, all of the tenants were displaced overnight, with Red Cross assisting four families with accommodations.

Miceli said that the occupants inside the building reported hearing smoke detectors sounding for a period of time before thinking the problem was an actual fire. But once they realized it was a fire, they notified all the other tenants and evacuated the building.

He said that the fire may have been smaller with earlier discovery, adding that the building was old and had a complicated layout, hampering firefighters' searching inside in zero visibility conditions.

Miceli said late Thursday night that the cause of the fire remains undetermined.

"The Fire Marshal's Office was called because of the extent of damage, but due to the late hour and the fact there were no injuries, we secured the building for the night and they will be sending an investigator first thing in the morning," said Miceli.

ROCKLAND — The tenant occupying the apartment at 666 Main St. in Rockland Thursday afternoon wasn't home when the ground-floor fire started, according to conversations among neighbors. The fire, located in a three-story building two structures north of Home Kitchen Café, closed a portion of North Main Street Thursday around 4 p.m.

When the tenant did arrive at the scene, she had to tell her son — who'd just phoned to announce the “B” he'd received in school that day — what was happening at home.

Milling neighbors marveled at the fortune that the wooden building, estimated by them to be around 200 years old, did not ignite all together, and that the two very large propane tanks situated just feet away, and the two propane tanks belonging to the tenant building next door, remained unaffected. The building was actually built around 1897, according to the city’s record, making it around 119 years old.

Another tenant who occupied another unit told neighbors of how he was days away from moving, having found another apartment elsewhere.

Rockland, Thomaston, and Rockport fire departments all answered the call, bringing seven fire trucks, both Rockland ambulances, and a great deal of man - and woman-power to the scene. After dousing the origin of the fire, personnel spent time going through each unit, ensuring that the fire had not traveled behind the walls or between the floors and ceiings. Smoke still billowed from the windows opened by the firefighters at 4:30 p.m.

No injuries were reported. There were approximately seven units in the building affected by the fire, and Knox County Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross were working to help the individuals and families displaced by the fire, smoke and water damage.

[Editor’s note: The headline and original story were edited March 19 to correct and note that the building is actually closer to just over 100 years old, per the city’s records for tax assessing purposes.]

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com and 207-706-6655.
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