Gardiner police and the Office of State Fire Marshal are investigating the cause of a fire Monday evening that burned several pieces of wooden debris inside the former T.W. Dick Co. iron works building on Summer Street but was quickly extinguished by Gardiner firefighters.
While damage from the fire was “minimal,” Gardiner police Chief James Toman said the blaze appeared to have been set intentionally.
“It is suspicious in nature, and we think there was a human element to it,” Toman said. “It’s an abandoned building with no electricity, and based upon the debris or materials that were on fire, simple deductive reason indicates there was a human element.”
Several pieces of wooden debris were burned in the fire, but Gardiner firefighters who arrived at the scene around 5:20 p.m. Monday were able to prevent the fire from spreading, Toman said.
They went to the scene after a local businessperson saw and smelled smoke coming from the building and reported it to authorities, Toman said.
“We appreciate the ‘see (something) say something’ attitude that this person had,” Toman added.
The abandoned iron works building is one of several that a Portland-based company plans to demolish and replace with a medical arts building and a senior housing complex.
Charles Eichacker — 621-5642
Twitter: @ceichacker
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.