A fire in a four-unit apartment building on the corner of Union and Charles streets in Bangor displaced 10 people and several cats on Saturday.
Fire departments from Bangor, Brewer, Orono and Engine 11 from the Maine National Guard base responded to calls of an apartment fire around 10:40 a.m. on Saturday, according to Bangor Assistant Fire Chief Andrew Emory. Crews extinguished the blaze by 2 p.m.
“There appeared to be fire going through the roof and a large column of black smoke,” Emory said. “The fire was knocked down quickly, but there was an extensive overhaul where fire was through two buildings and different apartment units.”
The apartment building covers 64 and 66 Charles St. and 345 and 347 Union St.
Some of the 10 tenants in the four units in the building were home when the fire broke out, but all escaped without injury. Firefighters rescued several cats in the units, Emory said, though it’s unclear if all the cats are accounted for and what their conditions are.
The American Red Cross was called to assist the 10 residents, as all of the units were deemed uninhabitable by the city, Emory said. All four units sustained some degree of fire or smoke damage and utilities were disconnected.
It’s unknown where and how the fire began, Emory said, but the back of the building sustained the most extensive damage. The state fire marshal has been called to help determine the cause of the fire, but it isn’t considered suspicious.