A fire late Sunday morning at a six-unit apartment building in Skowhegan caused extensive damage to the building and sent one person to the hospital with burns to his hands.
The fire, reported at 11:31 a.m., started on the first floor of the older, wood-frame building at 386 Water St., which has an addition on the back of the structure.
“Two people had to jump from the windows and they transported one to Redington-Fairview General Hospital,” Skowhegan firefighter Linwood Corson said in a phone interview from the fire station just before 3 p.m. “There was extensive damage to the first and second floors.”
He said he believed the two people jumped out of a first-floor window.
The fire apparently started on the first floor, but by mid-afternoon, a cause had not been identified, according to Corson, who said the state fire marshal’s office was called to the scene.
“The fire marshal is still there, making a determination on the cause,” he said.
Thirty-five to 40 firefighters from Skowhegan, Madison, Fairfield, Norridgewock and Canaan went to the scene, and the Athens firefighters started toward Skowhegan but returned to that town, as they were not needed.
Corson said when firefighters arrived at the scene at 11:33 a.m., flames were showing from the first floor.
He said at least two people are believed to have been living in each of the six units in the building. The Amerian Red Cross was called, but Corson was not sure where displaced tenants would be staying.
The Skowhegan Police and Highway departments blocked off Water Street to traffic, and Central Maine Power Co. turned off power to the building, according to Corson.
Water Street runs from downtown to about Coburn Park and then becomes U.S. Route 2. The apartment building is across the street from the park.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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