Bangor firefighters responded to a fire at a vacant, boarded-up house on Thursday night, according to the Bangor Fire Department.
Crews received a call from a neighbor about an empty home at 66 Smith St. on fire at 10:56 p.m. Thursday. Firefighters from all three Bangor fire stations arrived four minutes later and the fire was extinguished around 11:30 p.m., according to Assistant Chief Chandler Corriveau with the Bangor Fire Department.
Firefighters determined the home was empty after searching for occupants twice, as the department was aware of unhoused people staying there previously, Corriveau said.
“We never take any chances and will always do primary and secondary searches as long as the conditions are safe for our crew,” he said.
No injuries were reported, and there was no damage to the occupied multi-unit building next door.
“The early call, fast response time, adequate staffing and our highly trained personnel make all the difference,” Corriveau said. “Without those, the occupied building next door certainly could have caught fire.”
While the fire was extinguished quickly and no one was injured, Corriveau said the building took time to search because it was full of trash and debris. Crews also had to spend time removing reinforced security windows and doors designed to keep people from entering vacant buildings.
The building has been marked as vacant since 2016, Corriveau said.
The cause of the fire remains unknown but isn’t under investigation.
“We had some conflicting reports of someone being seen there recently, but we haven’t been able to confirm anything,” Corriveau said.
Crews from Air National Guard and Holden provided assistance on the scene while Brewer and Orono fire departments covered Bangor during the fire.