WALDOBORO — A small takeout restaurant in Waldoboro suffered a setback Thursday, July 23, after fire damaged the interior of the Downtown business.

Maine Kebab, a small eating establishment with a large outdoor dining area, had only been open for a few weeks on Friendship Street when Lincoln County 911 dispatchers received reports of smoke emitting from the building. 

At approximately 1:20 a.m., firefighters from Damariscotta, Bremen, Jefferson, Friendship, Warren, Union, and Thomaston were dispatched along with Waldoboro responders to keep flames contained within the Maine Kebab, which is tucked into a rear lower level of a multi-level brick building at the corner of Main Street (Rte 220). The Thomaston and Damariscotta units were additional resources requested by Waldoboro Fire Chief Paul Smeltzer in the form of ladder trucks. Smeltzer said he called for those resources while he was still en route to the scene, based on his knowledge of the multi-level building. 

The building also holds a pharmacy, a few other store fronts, a few apartments, and some vacancies. The few tenants within the structure at the time evacuated safely, according to Smeltzer.

“I wasn’t able to do a 360 around the whole building because of the size, but I checked all the store fronts on the Friendship Street level and there was smoke all the way down to 9 Friendship Street,” said Smeltzer.

First arriving units went straight to the Maine Kebab, discovered the fire, and knocked it down within about 15 minutes of the initial dispatch, according to Smeltzer. The second units made access to all three floors on the Friendship Street side in order to ventilate the smoke. 

Fire damage was contained to the area surrounding the restaurant space. Heavy smoke damaged the drug store as a result of the fire. 

The fire has been ruled accidental, according to him.

Most units were clear of the scene by 3 a.m., after taking extra precautions to make sure no smoke was still contained within the building.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com