PORTLAND, Maine — The parents of one of the victims of a Nov. 1 fire on Noyes Street in Portland reportedly told a local television station that investigators have determined the blaze was accidental.
The fire at 20-24 Noyes St. was Maine’s deadliest in four decades, claiming the lives of six people. Nikki and Louis Thomas, the parents of 29-year-old victim Ashley Thomas, reportedly told Portland NBC affiliate WCSH 6 that investigators believe smoking materials discarded in a bucket or trash can on the porch next to a couch caused the blaze.
The fire, which took place the morning after a Halloween party at the two-unit building, has been under investigation for nearly three months, with local and state investigators seeking help from a state-of-the-art U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives laboratory.
The blaze has spurred at least two wrongful death lawsuits against the landlord, Gregory Nisbet, who was accused by victims’ families of not adequately maintaining the building’s smoke alarms, among other shortcomings.
According to reports released by the city of Portland in November, the Noyes Street property was the subject of 16 complaints going back to 2003. Many of those complaints were of unsightly and potentially unsafe buildups of what at least one complainant called “trash and combustibles” at the two-unit structure.
In response to the Noyes Street fire, the city of Portland assembled a task force to review city fire and codes inspection policies and procedures. That panel, which is being led in part by Boston Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Fleming, is due to make its recommendations to the City Council in February.
In addition to Thomas, the fire claimed the lives of tenants David Bragdon Jr., 27, and Nicole Finlay, 26, as well as apartment visitors Christopher Conlee, 25, of Portland, Topsham resident Maelisha Jackson, 26, and Rockland resident Steven Summers, 29.
City officials have scheduled a news conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday to discuss investigators’ findings.
Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.
