PORTLAND — Firefighters in Maine’s largest city are battling an apartment house fire that a neighbor says was started by children playing with sparklers.
City officials say everyone made it out of the building to safety late Monday morning, but thick plumes of smoke could be seen from downtown as firefighters battled the blaze.
The Portland Press Herald quotes a neighbor, Melissa Trott, as saying kids caused the fire by trying to light fireworks using a toaster oven. The newspaper reports the fire left three families without a place to stay.
A city spokeswoman declined to discuss the cause of the fire. Congress Street was closed as firefighters doused the blaze in the building across the street from the Eastern Cemetery.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.