PRESQUE ISLE, MAINE — A local man was injured Friday when he jumped from a window and fell about 15 feet to get away from what officials are calling a “suspicious” apartment fire.
Senior Investigator Tim Lowell of the state fire marshal’s office said Monday that Keith Antworth was the sole tenant of an apartment building that is now the center of his investigation.
Firefighters discovered Antworth had jumped when they responded to the fire at 21 Allen St. shortly after it was reported at about 2:25 p.m., according to Presque Isle Fire Chief Darrell White.
White said Monday that Antworth, who suffered minor burns, was first taken by Crown Ambulance to The Aroostook Medical Center but may have been transferred to a hospital in southern Maine for additional care.
Antworth was the only person inside at the time of the fire, according to Lowell.
He said the fire remains under investigation and that he could not discuss at this time why it was deemed suspicious.
The fire chief said the blaze started in a first-floor apartment of the building owned by Roger Pelkey.
White said several cats died in the fire, and the interior of the building was significantly damaged.
None of the 14 firefighters who responded to the scene was injured, according to the chief.