PERU – Part of the former Diamond Match Co. wood mill went up in flames Monday night, and officials termed the blaze suspicious. There were no reports of injuries.

Peru Fire Chief Bill Hussey said the building that burned did not have electricity and had been used to store recyclables.

The fire at the sprawling complex between Route 108 and the Androscoggin River was reported about 8:20 p.m. Monday.

About 80 firefighters from Peru, Mexico, Rumford, Dixfield, Canton and Andover, along with at least a dozen fire engines, tankers and three or four ladder trucks were on the scene late into the night.

“Right now it’s suspicious,” Sgt. Tim Holland of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office said just before midnight.

“We’ve talked to the state fire marshal. He’s been here. He’ll be back in the morning,” he added, referring to Sgt. Joel Davis.

Holland said he and Deputy Mike Halacy were sent to the scene to begin an investigation into the cause.

“The extent of burn is so severe it may be nearly impossible to figure out where it started. It had a good start before it got reported,” said Holland, who is also an assistant chief for the Peru Fire Department.

“The roof collapsed shortly after firefighters arrived,” he said.

The one-story brick building is approximately 60 by 100 feet and contained paper, plastics cardboard and other recyclables, Holland said.

“It started in that section of the building,” he said.

The approximately 80 firefighters from six departments stopped the flames from spreading to the attached main mill, the sergeant said, although there was smoke and water damage there.

Soot, ash and dust rained down on firefighters, Med-Care Ambulance Service, and police officers.

Flames could be seen in several surrounding towns.

Water was hauled from Dixfield hydrants and some was pumped from the river.

The east wall of the burning building collapsed, and an excavator was being sought to clear debris, he advised.

Holland said a neighbor on Dolloff Street reported the fire.

He said he knew of no injuries.

Assistant Fire Chief Conrad Knox also termed the fire “suspicious.” He said there was a tractor and a propane tank in the building that apparently blew up.

“Quite a few people in town saw it and called in,” Knox said.

The mill is owned by the River Valley Growth Council, which hopes to redevelop it into a site for commercial enterprises, director Rosie Bradley said Monday night.

“We’ve had interest,” she said, “because it is in a good location, and it has a rail spur.”

It was just a big vacant warehouse,” she said. All the mill equipment had been taken out, and some of the wood flooring had also been removed and sold.

The property is valued at $500,000 by the town, but is not taxed because it is owned by the tax-exempt council. It is insured, Bradley said.

The council received nearly $123,000 from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to clean up hazardous materials such as asbestos, lead paint and barrels of waste left when the mill closed, she said.

The sprawling building complex sits on about seven acres across the Mexico-Peru bridge along the banks of the Androscoggin River. It operated from 1934 to 1988, employing scores of workers making matches, toothpicks, ice-cream sticks, tongue depressors and other small wooden items under the Diamond Brands name.

After it closed, Mexico waste and trucking contractor Alan Archibald bought the mill and used it for storage and a recycling business. In 2003, the growth council acquired it.

Attempts to reach Archibald were unsuccessful Monday night.

The blaze is the latest in a series of suspicious fires in surrounding towns.