ROCKLAND —  A fire that started inside a water heater and spread to the interior of a closet, caused the evacuation of an apartment building in Rockland Wednesday morning.

According to Rockland Fire Chief Chris Whytock, Rockland Fire and EMS responded to an alarm for a possible structure fire at 12 Gay Street Sept. 28 at 6:52 a.m. sending units from Rockland, Rockport, and Camden to the scene. Upon arrival, Rockland Car 1 reported smoke showing from the second floor. At 6:58 a.m., Tower 3, Squad 3, Rescue 3, and Engine 1 responded to the apartment building.

Residents were evacuating the building as the firefighters arrived. They checked the rest of the building to make sure all of the occupants were out and accounted for. 

“A report of a possible missing tenant was received and additional firefighters were sent to the second and third floors to conduct a primary search. A few minutes after the searches were started the missing resident was located outside the building with no injuries,” said Whytock in a news release.

A resident in the building told firefighters that she came out into the kitchen after smelling smoke. While she believed that something within the oven was on fire, she notified her mother who was not at the scene about the smoke. Once the mother arrived and noticed the smoke was not coming from the stove she had her daughter evacuate and call 911.

Attempts were then made by the mother to wake everyone else up in the building and make sure they had evacuated, said Whytock.

“The fact that the door to the utility closet remained closed and intact until our arrival made this a much easier fire with far less damage then if the door would have been open. There was minimal damage to the kitchen,” said Whytock.

The scene was turned over to the building owner and Rockland cleared the scene at 9:07 a.m.

A total of 30 firefighters responded.

Mutual aid was also called in for station coverage in case of another emergency during the fire. Thomaston Fire and South Thomaston Fire departments and North East Mobile Health all responded.  

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com