UNION — Union firefighters and their mutual aid battled a structure fire at Sweetgrass Winery and Distillery, early Monday morning, Sept. 15, 2025. The building, at 347 Carroll Road, is a complete loss.

As first to arrive on scene, Union Fire Chief Jesse Thompson encountered a fully-involved structure fire and most of the building was already on the ground, he said. To him, this was an indication that the fire had been burning for a while prior to the 911 calls at approximately 2:05 a.m. Though the structure was referred to as a barn, a winery was in operation inside. 

Directly in front of the winery, a powerline had burned off, with the remaining live electrical wire pulled back along the ground closer to the utility pole on the opposite side of the road. Though fire crews could walk in front of the property of the burning structure, neither trucks nor water supply could pull up close to the scene. 

"That was the tricky part," said Thompson, "trying to get water supply set up. We couldn't do anything because of the power lines in the middle. It was quicker to come on that side, but we needed water on that side, too."

Not only were fire crews attempting to extinguish the flames, they were also trying to protect the little barn and house next to Sweetgrass.

To resolve the situation, two water supply units were established, one on each end of the fire zone. With all water being trucked from a hydrant at the Washington Fire Station, some tankers pulled up to the scene from the Shepard Hill Road side of Carroll Road, while other tankers circled around via Overlock Hill and North Union roads.

A Central Maine Power linesman was able to walk up to the scene and assess the wire around 3:30 p.m. A CMP truck and another linesman arrived and cut power around 3:45 a.m.

The collapsed metal roof of the winery meant that a lot of areas couldn't fully be accessed and extinguished until an excavator could arrive and push aside the hot metal.

Responding units were Union, Washington, Appleton, Hope, Jefferson, Waldoboro, Warren, Rockport, Union EMS, and Knox County Sheriff's Office.

The last remaining fire units left the scene just prior to 8 a.m., and then had to spend time at their individual stations cleaning and replacing items in order to be ready for the next call.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com