MEXICO – A Sunday morning fire that destroyed a garage bay and melted siding on an adjacent three-story apartment building on Roxbury Road, was intentionally set, said Mexico fire Chief Gary Wentzell later that morning.
He said the 6:30 a.m. fire started on the inside of a locked building in the window area of one bay in a four-bay garage behind 53 Roxbury Road, which is also Route 17.
There was no power to the garage, the bays of which were being used for storage. But there were only a few items in the bay that was destroyed.
The initial alarm to Mexico firefighters was for a report of heavy smoke, but it turned out to be a structure fire, said Deputy Chief Richard Jones, the first to arrive.
That caused Wentzell to immediately call for mutual aid from Rumford firefighters.
At first, he said he thought the back of the apartment building was burning until he ran down a driveway and saw the garage ablaze.
“The fire was coming out the side and front, bright orange flames,” he added.
Firefighters and police banged on apartment doors to wake up tenants and get them out as a precaution, but a quick knockdown of the fire with foam prevented gusting winds from fanning flames onto the apartment building.
The buildings are owned by Mark Ross, who also owns a car dealership, Lazarou Motors Inc., and Chicken Coop Restaurant, both on Main Street in Mexico.
Wentzell, who estimated damage at $15,000, said Ross wasn’t sure if his building insurance also covered the garage.
The fire happened within blocks of two other recent house fires. One happened last Sunday morning at Veronica Dennis’ 2-story home at 4 Burton St., where a Virgin Mary likeness was found; the other occurred on Dec. 19 at 25 Middle Ave. in a three-story apartment building.
Unlike Sunday’s fire, the Dennis house fire was caused by a space heater that caught a bed on fire, and a candle accident caused the Middle Avenue fire.
Wentzell said state fire investigator Chris Stanford of Poland took evidence from the scene to a laboratory to be analyzed.
“We didn’t find any Virgin Marys at this one,” Wentzell quipped.
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