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A truck and trailer were partially parked inside a B&S Paving and Construction building at 10 Sylvester Drive in Manchester on Monday night when a fire destroyed everything inside the building . A malfunctioning machine caused the blaze, officials said. (Courtesy of Shannon Moss)

A fire that destroyed a Manchester paving company’s metal building Monday evening was accidental, the Office of State Fire Marshal determined.

The blaze, which began shortly before 7 p.m., injured no one, but burned down B&S Paving and Construction’s structure at 10 Sylvester Drive, north of Longfellow’s Greenhouses on Puddledock Road in Manchester.

A vehicle and trailer that were partially inside the building were also burned, Shannon Moss, a public information officer for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said in a news release Tuesday.

A “malfunctioning driveway sealer machine” caused the fire, Moss said.

Crews from Manchester, Augusta, Hallowell, Winthrop, Readfield, West Gardiner, Mount Vernon, Wayne, Fayette and Vienna responded to the scene. The building was already heavily involved by the time crews arrived at 6:54 p.m. Monday, Moss said.

Manchester fire Chief Stephen Caswell did not respond to a request for comment.

Ethan covers local politics and the environment for the Kennebec Journal, and he runs the weekly Kennebec Beat newsletter. He joined the KJ in 2024 shortly after graduating from the University of North...

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