
POLAND — The Maine Office of State Fire Marshal said Monday the cause of the Nov. 17 fire that destroyed a building at the former Élan School in Poland has been listed as “undetermined.”
The fire marshal’s office was unable to identify the fire’s cause “due to the extent of damage the building has sustained,” according to Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The Poland Fire Rescue Department was called to the property at 70 Number 5 Road early Nov. 17 for a report of a fire. When firefighters arrived at the property, which has multiple buildings, they found a large structure fire that was threatening surrounding buildings and spreading into the woods, officials said.
Chief Thomas Printup of the Poland Fire Rescue Department said while the building was destroyed, crews were able to stop the spreading flames.
“Unfortunately, there was so much degradation of the structure that determining the cause was a far reach from what we saw with fire conditions,” Printup said Monday. “Luckily, there were no injuries to first responders while fighting the fire.”
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