LIVERMORE FALLS – Two teenagers from Jay and Livermore Falls have been accused of breaking into a vacant apartment building on Main Street and intentionally setting it on fire Friday night, fire Capt. Ron Leclerc said Saturday.
State fire investigator Chris Stanford charged each of the boys, 15 and 16, with arson and breaking and entering, Leclerc said. The teens were released into their parents’ custody.
There was no electricity at the house at 92 and 94 Main St. and building owner Thomas Harville of Skowhegan had no insurance on it, Leclerc said. The building, next to Dunkin’ Donuts, has been vacant for two or three years, he said.
The fire was started on the first floor but the cause remains under investigation, he said.
About 80 firefighters from Livermore Falls, Jay, Livermore, Farmington and Wilton responded to Main Street to fight the blaze. Mexico firefighters responded with their department’s portable air cascade system to fill air bottles and Fayette was on standby at the Livermore Falls Fire Station. Eleven trucks responded to the 5:46 p.m. report of fire, including Livermore Falls’ and Jay’s aerial trucks
The blaze heavily damaged four rooms and the roof of the building, Leclerc said.
While firefighters worked to douse that blaze, a grease fire was reported at an apartment building on Millett Street. That fire spread to the cabinets but was extinguished quickly, fire Chief Ken Jones said.
About the same time, a roof collapsed on a vacant mobile home on Lot 1 at 239 Fayette Road, Jones said.
It was a busy night, he added.
Firefighters left the Main Street site at 2:30 a.m. Saturday and returned there later in the morning to review the fire scene with Stanford from the Maine Office of the State Fire Marshal. Firefighters were still doing work at the scene at mid-afternoon.
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