OXFORD – An early-morning fire Tuesday forced 11 tenants to flee from an Oxford apartment building. No one was injured, but the three-apartment building at 82 Pleasant St. suffered heavy damage, fire officials said.
First-floor tenant Henry Pollard said he was having his morning coffee when the fire broke out around 5 a.m. “I was getting ready to go to work, and another tenant came down and said the house was on fire,” he said. Pollard roused his three children, officials said, and got them safely out of the building. Then he woke other tenants.
Richard Shepard, senior investigator for the State Fire Marshal’s Office, said the fire, which he ruled accidental, started in the living room of the rear upstairs apartment. After reconstructing the layout of the furniture in the living room, fire marshals believe the fire was caused by an electrical strip outlet, an extension cord with multiple outlets.
Shepard estimated the damage to the building at $85,000. In addition to the considerable damage to the upstairs apartment, the roof also was affected. The downstairs apartment was not damaged, but Shepard said the building is not habitable, since the fire cut power to the apartments. Power to the downstairs cannot be restored until the two upstairs apartments can be isolated.
“The Fire Department made a good stop,” he said. They “got in, contained it to the apartment of origin.”
Bob Ripley, who owns the building, had estimated the damage at $45,000, but added, “If it got into the rafters, the building’s done.” The important thing, though, was that “everybody got out OK,” he said. “The building’s just a building.”
The United Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting the 11 residents of the building and has found temporary housing for one of the families displaced. The Red Cross is accepting financial contributions to help the three families. Donations may be sent to P.O. Box 439, Auburn, ME 04212 and should be marked “Local Disaster Relief Fund.”
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