AUGUSTA — Area firefighters worked quickly to contained an attic fire at a building at 93 Western Ave. Wednesday night.
Augusta Battalion Chief John Bennett said a report of a structure fire came in just after 5 p.m. He said an all-hands call was struck, which beckons in off-duty city firefighters and area crews.
Once on the scene, Bennett said heavy smoke was showing from the attic. A maintenance worker at the building was able to direct crews to the attic’s scuttle hole so they could better access the fire, Bennett said.
Around 6 p.m., crews were fighting the flames at 93 Western Ave., which is just east of the road’s intersection with Pike Street.
A portion of Western Avenue was shut down to through traffic while crews from several departments worked. Vehicles at the nearby Shaws Plaza were detoured to Capitol Street.
Bennett said crews cleared the scene around 8 p.m.
“I’m very proud of the crew,” Bennett said. “It was a great stop.”
Bennet said the building was “absolutely salvageable.”
According to property tax records, the building is owned by Enso LLC, which is based in Walpole.
A May 2019 Kennebec Journal report said that the building at 93 Western Ave. had been purchased by ENSO Recovery to be used as a recovery house for Kennebec County jail inmates in a drug treatment program after they are released from jail.
In a July 2019 report, the property was mentioned in a report about a failed proposal to ban residences on Western Avenue was rejected after some residents sought to limit the number of group homes in their neighborhood.
Crews from Togus, Gardiner, Winthrop, Hallowell, Chelsea, Vassalboro assisted Augusta crews. Central Maine Power also responded to shut off power to the building.
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