WATERVILLE — A pizza delivery man escaped injury when his delivery truck caught fire Wednesday outside the Pizza Hut restaurant on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

Joseph James Gillooly III, of Vassalboro, said he had just returned to the restaurant from a delivery to the Comfort Inn and had gone into the restaurant to deposit the money from the delivery when a co-worker noticed heavy smoke coming from the hood of his truck.

“I opened up the hood and that’s when it got really bad. There were flames, and I don’t know what happened,” said Gillooly, 42.

The fire was reported around 4:40 p.m. and was extinguished within about five minutes of firefighters’ arrival at the scene, said Lt. Steve Francoeur, of the Waterville Fire Department. The fire originated in the engine compartment and the cause is unknown, he said.

The damage to the SUV, a 1996 Chevrolet Blazer, was severe, but no injuries were reported.

The restaurant was evacuated briefly as a precaution while firefighters extinguished the blaze, Francoeur said.

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Gillooly said he would have to leave work early since he didn’t have a vehicle, but that he had insurance and had a day off on Thursday to try to sort things out.

“It’s lucky I wasn’t in there,” he said. “I’ll be all right. I just have to figure something out.”

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368

rohm@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @rachel_ohm


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