PITTSFIELD — The cause of a fire that destroyed a two-and-a-half story building on the corner of Peltoma Avenue and Main Street Sunday afternoon will be investigated by the Office of State Fire Marshal, according to Pittsfield Fire Chief Bernard Williams.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 2:25 p.m. At one point, hundreds of people watched from the campus of Maine Central Institute, which is across the street from the residence, as firefighters battled the blaze for five hours.

The cause is undetermined, according to Williams. It appears to have started in an extension of an apartment that was unoccupied.

The Office of State Fire Marshal plans to investigate the scene tomorrow. Williams said there’s no reason to suspect foul play at this point.

The building was divided into multiple apartments but only one was occupied, according to Williams.

One family had moved out of an apartment the day before, he said.

Tara Pomeroy owns the building and lived in one of the apartments, but was not home when the fire started.

Williams said he believes Pomeroy has insurance for the building.

While firefighters worked, fire departments received two calls for other structure fires. One, on West Street in Pittsfield, caused only minor damage, Williams said. Another came from Newport, drawing away the Newport and Corinna fire departments.

Fire departments from Burnham, Plymouth, Detroit, Canaan, Hartland, Skowhegan and Fairfield also responded to the scene.

Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239

mstamour@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @madelinestamour

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