ROCKLAND — Friday morning, May 10, the State Fire Marshal’s Office continues its investigation into the cause of an interior fire at a lodging facility that led to two separate responses by area firefighters, Thursday, May 9.

The State investigator and Rockland Fire Department believe that the fire source was related to the electrical system in the wing of the Trade Winds Inn where the flames were contained, according to Fire Chief Chris Whytock, in a news release.

At the time of the initial lunchtime call, 11:10 a.m., workers and patrons of 2 Park Drive, Trade Winds, were reporting the odor of smoke. Upon arrival, firefighters encountered smoke in a hallway and utility room. They traced that smoke back to a source between the first and second floors of the hotel, according to Whytock.

Damage from the fire and extinguishment was contained to a break room and a hotel room, while residual smoke and smoke and carbon monoxide were cleared from the rest of the complex.  

Also as a result of the fire, area businesses lost power for a short time when electricity was disconnected at the Tradewinds.

At 4:19 p.m., as Rockland Fire & EMS was conducting an investigation with the Fire Marshal’s Office and the State Electrical Inspector, an additional fire was located four rooms away from the original fire.  

Additional firefighters from Rockland, Camden, Rockport, South Thomaston, and Thomaston were called back to extinguish that fire and investigate further.

Early notification of the fire helped minimize the damage within the building.

The extent of the fire and the size of the building called for additional companies to aid in the extinguishment of the fire.  Our mutual aid system in Knox County allows all of our firefighters to operate more safely and efficiently. 

The Knox Regional Communications Center did an outstanding job coordinating all the incoming companies and radio traffic.

The hotel remains open in the unaffected wings as this is believed to be isolated to one section of the electrical system, Whytock said.

Friday, May 10, moments after this news release was distributed to the news media, the Rockland Fire Department was called back to the Tradewinds following another smoke alarm activation.

UPDATE: Second alarm rings for area firefighters Rockland Trade Winds Inn, first alarm brings them back hours later

ROCKLAND — Rockland Fire, and its mutual aid departments returned to the Trade Winds Inn on Park Street three hours after clearing the scene of an earlier fire on the premises.

Late Thursday afternoon, as Rockland’s Fire Chief Chris Whytock and an investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office continued to determine the cause of a lunchtime fire, flames were again found at the site. This time, those flames were found in an adjacent wall and ceiling to the area’s previous fire.

The firefighters who returned for the 4:19 p.m., May 9, call entered multiple guest rooms which happened to be under renovation.

More details will be added to this article as they become available.

ROCKLAND — A report of smoke inside the Trade Winds Inn at 2 Park Street prompted first and second-alarm responses to the occupied lodging facility.

Following the summons by Knox Regional Communications Center at approximately 11:10 a.m., Thursday, May 9, Rockland Fire Department and its mutual aid entered a door at the Inn’s rear-parking lot. After going floor by floor to tell occupants to evacuate, firefighters followed heavy smoke to its origin in one of the rooms. 

All smoke and fire were contained within the building, yet a steady stream of vehicles and pedestrians flowed past the parking lot during the sunny, blue sky, 50-degree lunch hour for a glimpse of the action.

The ladder to the roof was positioned, but not used.

The first of the mutual aid to leave the scene did so at about 12:10 p.m. Rockland Fire units returned to quarters around 1 p.m., except the fire chief, who remained on scene.

The Fire Marshal’s Office has been called.

More details will be added to this article as they become available.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com

Second alarm rings for area firefighters with report of smoke inside Rockland Trade Winds Inn

Rockland firefighters have called for help to tackle the presence of smoke at the Trade Winds Inn on Park Street in Rockland. Camden, Rockport, South Thomaston and Thomaston firefighters are all on scene, with ladder trucks, as is North East Mobile Health Services ambulance.