AUBURN – Anthony Hazelton bounded down a set of blackened wooden stairs to the ground below. The 11-year-old darted across the dirt past a giant heap of charred wood, jagged metal and twisted plastic.

He stood next to the remaining wall of a house that was gutted by fire nearly two weeks ago. Above him, a hanging section of aluminum trim swung in the breeze. He looked at the wreckage around him.

“We’re really not supposed to play over there,” Hazelton said. “But my grandfather saw some kids playing around inside. They’re not supposed to.”

Neighbors say it’s one big heap of trouble at the corner of Drummond and Pleasant streets. In the early morning of May 24, fire destroyed two houses and damaged three others at that location. More than three dozen people were left homeless.

The destruction left behind is evident in piles of debris, burned and leaning walls and unidentifiable trinkets twisted by heat and flames.

No one really knows what is left beneath the mounds or inside the hollowed out remains of the buildings.

“To me, it looks very tempting. People will be curious,” said 39-year-old Ben LeClair, whose barn was damaged in the blaze. “Someone is going to want to look around and see what’s left behind. That’s when you’re going to get hurt.”

As LeClair spoke, more children arrived at the scene. They ran past the ruins and up the stairs Hazelton had just come down.

Hazelton lives in an apartment at Drummond and Pleasant streets, above a store at the corner. That building was singed from the flames but otherwise spared. Hazelton’s door looks down upon the ugliness left by the fire.

“I have to walk by it every time I come here,” said 13-year-old David Robinson, who often visits the Hazelton home. “I can’t stand to look at it.”

The group of children that gathered included an 8-year-old who used to live at 68 Drummond St., the most heavily damaged of the homes that burned. He and the others swear they do not play on the piles of rubble. Still, grownups are wary.

“To just leave it here hanging in the wind is very unsafe,” LeClair said. “It’s asking for trouble.”

LeClair said he has not yet been approached by city officials. He does not know what is going to happen to the remains of his garage or the rest of the mess in his back yard.

“I would think someone would come and tell us what our options are,” he said.

Cleanup coming

That should change on Saturday. Auburn fire prevention officer Gary Simard said what remains of the house at 68 Drummond St. will be torn down. The remains should be cleared away soon after.

Shortly after the fire was extinguished and investigators looked things over last month, the city had its own crews tear down remaining sections deemed to be hazardous.

“The responsibility from there falls on the property owner,” Simard said.

The owner, Dan Roux, has hired Roland Chabot Demolition to tear down the remaining buildings and clean up. But before that could happen, they had to secure the proper permits, contact utility companies and get Dig Safe involved. Dig Safe is a utility-funded organization that marks the location of underground cables, pipes and wires.

“It’s a time-consuming process,” Simard said.

By the end of the weekend, the scenery may be greatly changed at Drummond and Pleasant streets. But the exact cause of the fire remained a mystery as Simard and the State Fire Marshal’s Office continued to investigate.

“It’s undetermined,” Simard said. “We think it was an accidental fire, but we’re still doing interviews.”

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