LEWISTON – Police are continuing to investigate three afternoon fires downtown Saturday – all reported within 36 minutes of each other.

Fire officials couldn’t confirm that the fires were connected, but said they were suspicious.

Fire Inspector Paul Ouellette said he responded to the first fire, in a pile of trash in the Canal Street alley behind the Common Ties Mental Health Coalition office. That was phoned in to police at 12:29 p.m.

Reports of second blaze, in a late-model black Nissan Sentra parked on level two of the Oak Street parking garage, came in at 12:47 p.m. while Ouellette was investigating the first blaze. Reports of the third blaze, in an abandoned couch on the street near the Birch and Pierce street intersection, came in at 1:05 p.m.

“All three are being investigated as suspicious by Lewiston fire and the (Criminal Investigation Division), and we’re still following up on anything we can,” he said. “We’re still looking, still following leads. We have nothing concrete to say just yet.”

The first fire, set to a pile of trash and papers in the alley behind Common Ties, damaged the junction box to that building. The rest of the building appeared to escape damage, however.

Lewiston Electrical Inspector Gerry Caron said CMP was called in to shut down power to the building and remove the electrical meters. Caron said it could be several days before the power is restored.

Karen Bates-Pelletier, housing manager for Common Ties, said the office wasn’t damaged.

“Luckily, there wasn’t any other damage,” she said. “It’s just kind of an inconvenience right now.”

Common Ties Executive Director Craig Phillips said the office would be open for clients Monday morning, whether electricity and phone service was restored or not. He expected case managers to begin calling their clients to reschedule any appointments. Other calls or questions should be directed to Common Ties’ Wellness and Recovery Center on Pine Street or to Tri-County Mental Health, he said.

Lewiston police would not say Saturday who owned the Nissan Sentra burned in the second fire.

Ouellette said the couch burned in the third blaze was probably left for Lewiston’s spring clean-up collections. There was no other damage in that fire.

“From what we can tell, it was only one couch out there that was burned,” he said. “There was nothing else there.”