OAKLAND — The former Cascade Woolen Mill, destroyed in a spectacular fire in 2010, was the site of a small fire Saturday evening.

A 14-year-old boy from Oakland has been charged with arson in connection to the fire, Sgt. Joel Davis of the State Fire Marshal’s Office said.

Davis said the boy and a friend were engaged in “horseplay” in a small building that once contained the mill’s boiler room, and “fire was involved.”

The boy and his friend were released to their parents, Davis said, adding that further charges might be pending.

The vacant building was supposed to be empty, but it held an 18-foot fiberglass boat, which was destroyed in the fire, Davis said.

Chief Dave Coughlin, of the Oakland Fire Department, said the boat’s registration was not valid, and its owner has yet to be identified.

A resident on nearby Fairfield Street noticed smoke coming from the building, and the resident dialed 911 to report it, Coughlin said. Responding firefighters from Oakland, Belgrade and Rome extinguished the flames in about 15 minutes.

Oakland police Capt. Rick Stubbert said the department handled the initial investigation, and received a report from a neighbor who saw young people running from the scene shortly after the fire began.

The five-story, 127-year-old mill burned in January 2010, generating 50-foot flames that could be seen from Winslow and were so hot that they cracked the windshields of firetrucks parked 175 feet away. The boiler room was one of six buildings in the Cascade Mill complex.

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling — 861-9287
mhhetling@centralmaine.com