BIDDEFORD, Maine — As many as 20 people were forced out of their homes by an apartment building blaze in Biddeford on Sunday night, and local fire officials said Monday the structure remained too dangerous to enter.
John Lamb, spokesman for the American Red Cross of Maine, said his organization will be helping between 15 and 20 tenants of the 12-unit apartment building at 25 Green St., which burned Sunday. He said his group also learned that three units in the building next door have been left uninhabitable because of water damage and is seeking to help individuals affected there as well.
The Red Cross is looking to find new accommodations for the displaced tenants before the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
“Obviously anytime you experience a fire, it’s difficult. But during the holidays or when it’s cold out, it’s especially challenging,” Lamb said.
Biddeford Fire Chief Joseph Warren said a crew of firefighters remained at the scene Monday to monitor and douse hot spots in the wreckage. He said his department is being joined by investigators from the state fire marshal’s office in the search for a cause but said the structure remains too dangerous to enter.
“The building’s not safe. The roof collapsed and things underneath have still been burning a little bit,” Warren said just after noon Monday. “I’m not going to put anyone in the building and risk their well-being.”
Sunday night’s fire, which was reported at around 6 p.m., comes on the heels of a fire Friday that destroyed a vacant commercial building on Route 111 in the city and less than three weeks after state police arrested 18-year-old Dylan Collins on charges of murder and arson for a Sept. 18 fire at 35 Main St. that claimed the lives of two people.
On Sept. 21, a two-unit building on Simard Avenue in Biddeford was burned in what also was determined to be a case of arson. Former resident Jason McGarey, 40, was charged in that case.
“In the last couple of months, I’ve had four major fires, and two of the fires were arsons,” Warren said. “It’s a physical and emotional strain on [the city’s firefighters]. It can be taxing, emotionally and physically.”
Statewide, 12 people have died in fires since the Sept. 18 blaze in Biddeford. In addition to that deadly fire, a Nov. 1 fire at 20-24 Noyes St. in Portland became the state’s deadliest blaze in four decades, killing six people. That was followed by a Nov. 20 fire at a mobile home in Caribou that claimed the lives of a mother and her three young children.
“This has been rough,” Lamb said. “We’ve had three big fires with 12 fatalities.”
Lamb said his organization provides food, clothing, emotional support and, if necessary, emergency housing for people displaced by fires.
He said the increase in significant fires in the state in recent months has caused the Red Cross to accelerate a major fire prevention campaign, as well as efforts to seek new volunteers.
“We’ve launched a five-year plan, and our nationwide goal is to reduce fire injuries and deaths by 25 percent,” he said. “We could always use volunteers, and we’re really trying to beef up our volunteer workforce.”
Lamb said his organization’s campaign will involve continued outreach about the importance of working smoke detectors, which he said increase a resident’s chance of surviving a fire by 50 percent, and going door to door in some neighborhoods offering to install the devices or help draw up family escape plans.
Lamb said donations to the Red Cross or inquiries by potential volunteers can be made through maineredcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.
