Two businesses in Sanford are temporarily closed following an early Wednesday morning fire.
The fire was at building on Main Street in Sanford, which houses RepubliCash and a Thai food restaurant.
Sanford’s fire marshal said the businesses are not destroyed but have substantial damage.
Sanford Fire Chief Steve Benotti said a passerby reported the fire around 3:30 a.m. after seeing smoke coming from the building.
When crews arrived, they found fire in the loft of the RepubliCash side of the building. After investigating, Sanford’s fire marshal said it appears the fire started as an electrical fire in the wall between the two businesses.
Benotti said it was fortunate that no one was inside at the time.
“This is one of the buildings where at night, we realize as a business, we don’t expect people to be in not like rolling up on an apartment or house where they have a lot more life and safety to worry about. So, we’re happy to realize no one was in the building and takes one of those things off our docket, takes notch of severity down a bit,” Benotti said.
Both businesses remain closed for the foreseeable future.