A fire destroyed an outbuilding Tuesday night, along with tools worth thousands of dollars, at a property on Louise Avenue in Waterville. The fire is not considered suspicious.
WATERVILLE — A fire late Tuesday night destroyed an outbuilding under repair, as well as about $15,000 worth of tools belonging to the contractor doing the work.
The wooden shed was about 10 feet by 30 feet in size, according to fire Chief Shawn Esler, who was at the scene just before 10:30 p.m. The contractor had been working on the shed and an adjacent house after both were damaged by a fallen tree during a recent storm.
A crew from Curtis Construction LLC was completing final repairs on the outbuilding, which included installing siding and roofing material and doing structural support work, according to Esler. The fire started later Tuesday evening, after workers had left for the day, according to Esler. Neighbors reported the fire at 9:31 p.m.
“The contractors were temporarily storing tools in the shed,” he said.
The building is about 25 feet from the property owner’s house, which is at 46 Louise Ave.
Everything in the building was destroyed, Esler said. Fire officials don’t consider the fire suspicious in nature, but the cause will be listed as undetermined because of the extent of damage, he said.
The fire department has responded recently to multiple building fires throughout the community, according to Esler.
“I praise both our firefighters and those that assist us from surrounding communities for their quick response and teamwork upon arrival,” he said in the email. “I will note we are seeing an excellent turnout from our call force to assist during times of emergency.”
No injuries were reported, no one was displaced because of the fire and both the homeowner and contractor were insured, he said.
At the scene Tuesday night, Esler pointed to two sets of Milwaukee Packouts, or tool chests, that firefighters had removed from the burning building. In the driveway, lumber being used to repair the buildings was lying on saw horses.
About 15 firefighters from Waterville, Winslow and Fairfield responded to the scene, where the temperature outside was about 25 degrees. Waterville police also responded.
“This is a good turnout from the call force here tonight,” Esler said.
Esler said in his email Wednesday that firefighters closed the road with hoses and used a hydrant for water supply.
“That hydrant had a broken flange and quickly became inoperable,” he said. “Given the majority of the fire was knocked down, we called in Fairfield Fire Department with a tanker to assist with our remaining water supply needs.”
Firefighters cleared the scene at 11:26 p.m., according to Esler.
Louise Avenue is in a residential neighborhood off John Avenue, which is off West River Road near Temple Academy.
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