BANGOR, Maine — A fire that heavily damaged the Family Dollar store on State Street nearly four months ago remains under investigation, Sgt. Tim York of the state fire marshal’s office said Friday.
“At this time the fire is under investigation and the cause is undetermined,” York said in an email about the fire that closed the business Feb. 9. “We have been working jointly with Bangor [Police Department] and Bangor [Fire Department].”
The discount retail business at the intersection of State Street and Broadway was evacuated when the fire broke out shortly before 10:30 a.m. No injuries were reported.
Plywood covers the store’s huge front windows, and tattered yellow caution tape hangs across the front of the building. Messages left with the Family Dollar’s corporate office seeking information about whether the store will reopen and the number of employees displaced were not immediately returned Friday.
Bangor police Detective Josh Kuhn is leading the investigation for the police department, Sgt. Tim Cotton said Friday.
“They had meetings today in reference to that case,” Cotton said of the two-man team assigned to investigate the blaze that heavily damaged the building and sent black smoke into the sky that was visible for miles.
The investigators spent time going over surveillance camera videos and reviewing collected statements from those in the store before, during and after the fire.
“They feel positive about the investigation, but we’re not at the end,” Cotton said. “We are actively seeking the cause of that fire.”
Those with information about the case are asked to call Detective Josh Kuhn at 947-7384 ext. 95756. The department’s anonymous tip-line can be reached by selecting ext. 6.