AUBURN — The Fire Department responded to a small but suspicious fire next to the Androscoggin River Tuesday afternoon, discovering a pile of smoldering commercial copper wire.
Responding to what they expected to be a brush fire or burning tires, firefighters found two coils of copper wire weighing about 75 pounds each down a steep riverbank just off of Riverside Drive, Battalion Chief Tim Allen said. A suspect fled on foot before emergency responders arrived.
The fire was probably made by someone trying to burn the insulation off of the wire so that its source couldn’t be identified when they tried to sell the copper as scrap, Allen said.
Auburn police Patrolman Don Cousins followed footprints from the fire scene for about 150 yards before the prints lead to Riverside Drive and disappeared.
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