MARS HILL, Maine – The downtown sky was ablaze Monday night when fire broke out at a storage facility not far from the ball park and the nearby snowmobile trail.
“The fire was off Park Street and involved two buildings,” said Fire Chief Arthur London.
The fire was reported around 10 p.m. at a building owned by the McQuade brothers. Upon arrival, firefighters found the structure fully involved. Gusting winds and cold weather made fighting the blaze difficult. The fire eventually spread to a second structure that was separated from the first by a cement wall.
“They’re old buildings that used to be used to store potatoes. All that divides them is the old-type cement firewall. The fire started in one, then spread to a second one owned by Brian Ketchum,” said London.
London said both units contained various pieces of equipment.
“Brian’s side had equipment used for his business. He’s a Christmas tree grower and had tractors and other pieces stored for the winter. The other building had miscellaneous construction equipment stored in it, like road block signs, the McQuades used in the construction business,” said London.
The Mars Hill Fire Department received assistance from the Easton and Bridgewater fire departments.
“We did really well to keep (the fire) out of the third building there – Caron’s Lawn Care building,” said London. “We had about 20 on hand from the Mars Hill Fire Department, 10 from Bridgewater and 10 from Easton.”
Crews were on the scene until early Tuesday morning.
“We cleared the scene around 4 p.m. It was still smoldering around 9 a.m. Tuesday. It was decided it was best to let it take care of itself. It’ll eventually burn itself out. There wasn’t really anything left to burn,” said London.
The fire remains under investigation.
No injuries were reported as the result of the blaze.
“We may never know what caused this fire. Folks come and go from the units periodically. Work was done in them from time to time,” said London.
