DRESDEN, Maine — A transitional housing center was destroyed early Sunday morning after a fire broke out there, displacing its 13 residents.
The Freedom Center at 633 Gardiner Road, also known as Route 27, was the temporary home of 12 individuals in recovery and the primary residence of Executive Director Jan Burns at the time of the blaze, Assistant Director Keven Vachon said.
All residents made it safely out of the building and are being provided temporary shelter in Augusta through the Red Cross, Vachon said. Burns’ dog died in the fire, he said.
The fire appears to have started outside, in the back of the building, shortly before 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Dresden fire Chief Steve Lilly said. When firefighters arrived on scene, the fire was consuming the back wall and the roof of the building, he said.
For nearly 45 minutes after the fire was reported, it was unclear if all residents had safely exited the building, Lilly said. Two interior attack teams, composed of four firefighters each, entered the building to conduct a search as the fire burned through the attic, he said.
Burns was away for the weekend at the time of the fire, Vachon said. The number of residents at the Freedom Center, which is a transitional home for individuals in recovery and individuals exiting the criminal justice system, is always fluid, he said.
At the time of the fire, there were 12 residents at the center, some of whom had stayed there for a couple weeks, and some of whom had been there for a couple of months, Vachon said. No residents were injured as a result of the fire, “but what little they own is gone,” he said.
The interior attack teams were withdrawn from the building when the roof became unstable, Lilly said. The roof later collapsed into the building, he said. It took about two hours for firefighters to extinguish the flames.
Initial firefighting efforts were hampered by the lack of available water at the scene, a problem which was solved once mutual-aid partners arrived, Lilly said. The Alna, Boothbay, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Edgecomb, Farmingdale, Gardiner, Pittston, Richmond, Wiscasset and Woolwich fire departments assisted the Dresden Fire Department at the scene.
The Gardiner and Wiscasset ambulance services and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
“I can’t thank everyone enough,” Lilly said. “We all worked so well together.”
A section of Route 27, between Route 127 and Route 128, was closed throughout the morning as officials worked on scene. Officials from the Maine Department of Transportation were directing traffic to alternate routes.
An overhaul of the building was on hold until investigators from the state fire marshal’s office complete their investigation, Lilly said. The overhaul is expected to continue long into the day, he said.
For the past two years, The Freedom Center has offered private rooms with private bathrooms to individuals in transition, Vachon said. While not a professional counseling program, The Freedom Center provided housing and community support, he said. “We provided some friendship and some comfort,” he said.
The center had to consistently turn people away, due to lack of space, Vachon said. The displaced residents have shelter for a couple of nights, but Vachon expressed concern about their ability to find housing, with other transitional housing programs in the region filled to capacity.
The building was insured, Vachon said. “The Freedom Center will come back somehow,” he said.