MEXICO – A coin-operated laundry in the Mexico Plaza had a lot of things going for it late Tuesday morning when overheated lint caught fire on a pipe behind the No. 6 dryer.

The small strip mall building’s construction, its close proximity to the fire station, and a new firefighter doing training work outside the station all contributed to keep damage minimal. There were no injuries.

“If it hadn’t have been all metal and cement, this whole thing would have gone up. They were lucky,” fire Chief Gary Wentzell said 30 minutes after flames and smoke were noticed by an employee.

Lint from a wall-mounted bank of dryers had collected atop metal piping against a cement wall and caught fire at about 11:30 a.m., scorching some boards and ruining some insulation above a narrow walkway behind the machines.

Wentzell said newly hired firetruck driver Mike Chartier was training behind the station when employees inside the Mexico Laundromat called to him, alerting him to the fire.

“They should have just called 911,” the chief said.

The station then alerted Oxford county dispatchers who sent Mexico and Rumford firetrucks to the scene. Wentzell said the calls mustered about 18 firefighters.

“At first, we didn’t know if it was propane (fueled). There was no smoke rolling out. We could see red glowing in some of the cracks,” he said.

It was extinguished quickly, and a thermal imaging camera was used to check for hot spots.

Clothes cycling inside the No. 6 dryer were not damaged, nor were any other clothes damaged, mall building owner Todd Wardwell of Mexico said outside the business.

Still, customers arriving to get their laundry, dashed in with anxious looks. Standing outside, Wardwell told people arriving with laundry that the business would be closed Tuesday.

“We’ll be closed for the rest of the day, then come in tomorrow morning, clean up and fix the problems,” Wardwell said.