Staff Writer
A welding accident has been blamed for the loss of a building that housed a used car dealership on U.S. Route 1 south of the city, according to local fire officials. Flames were coming through the roof at Brothers Auto in Caribou when the fire trucks arrived shortly after noon last Thursday. The dealership was owned by Roger Felix and Jay Michaud, according to Caribou Fire Chief Roy Woods.
About $100,000 in damage was caused by the fire, Woods said. The loss includes two vehicles that were in the service bays of the dealership when the fire broke out.
Felix, who was experiencing chest pains, was transported by the Caribou Ambulance to the Cary Medical Center shortly after the fire started. Woods said he was treated and released.
The call came at about 12:15 p.m. A total of three fire trucks, one rescue unit and 14 personnel responded, according to Woods. A total of 12,000 gallons of water was used to extinguish the blaze.
Mutual aid from the Presque Isle Fire Department was provided in the form of a tanker truck.
Woods said that some welding has been done inside the building earlier in the day. No one was in the building when the fire started, he said.
With the fire located on Aroostook County’s busiest highway, scores of motorists stopped to watch the spectacle. Officers from the Caribou Police Department controlled traffic.
Other agencies involved in the fighting the fire were the Caribou Public Works Department, which pulled the burned vehicles from the building and Maine Public Service Co., which disconnected the electricity to the facility.
Woods said that the loss was insured.
