Investigators continued Thursday to search for a cause of a fire that destroyed a Water Street store in Randolph.

Sgt. Kenneth Grimes of the Office of State Fire Marshal said investigators were continuing to look at surveillance video to see if it would reveal clues about what sparked the Wednesday fire that destroyed Webb’s Store on Route 27. Grimes said he expected the investigation to continue through the weekend.

Additional Photos

AFTERMATH: Webb’s Store owner Dan Kilmer speaks on the phone Wednesday morning after a fire destroyed the business overnight. Staff file photo by Andy Molloy

The fire was reported around 3 a.m. Wednesday. Nobody was injured.

Store owner Dan Kilmer said the store, which employs six people, was insured. He said he plans to rebuild.

Firefighters from Randolph, Pittston, Farmingdale and Gardiner took about 90 minutes to control the fire and another 90 minutes to put it out. Crews had to contend with 10 5-gallon containers of racing fuel stored inside the store.

“Five of them caught fire and intensified the fire tremendously,” Randolph Fire Chief Ron Cunningham said shortly after the fire.

Kilmer, who has owned the store for six years, said his security firm called him at 3 a.m. to report a burglar alarm. When he arrived minutes later, the building was engulfed in smoke. Police, who also were notified of the alarm, were already at the store and had called firefighters. Investigators said fires often trigger burglar alarms and that it is not necessarily an indication someone was inside beforehand.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642 ccrosby@centralmaine.com Twitter: @CraigCrosby4

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