An early morning fire at an apartment building in Bangor was set intentionally according to an investigation by the state Fire Marshal’s Office.
Bangor firefighters responded to 271 Elm St. Thursday at about 3:43 a.m., according to a press release from the Maine Department of Public Safety. Two people were in the three-unit building at the time of the fire. Neither was injured but one firefighter received a minor burn.
In a press release, the Bangor Police Department reported rescuing a cat and several kittens from the burning building. When officers reached the building at 3:45 a.m., they found “the front of the house was in flames” and were told there was an apartment in the back of the building.
After escorting the two occupants outside, they were told about the cats.
“Once on the sidewalk [a woman] informed me there were kittens inside of a closet in the back bedroom,” one of the officers wrote in his incident report:
“Sgt. [Kyle] Pelkey and I then went back into the house and I located the kittens in the closet. I found a reusable Walmart bag, dumped out the contents and put the kittens inside of the bag. I then grabbed a larger cat with the help of Sgt. Pelkey and was able to get it outside.”
Investigators from the Fire Marshal’s Office are conducting a joint investigation with members of the Bangor Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division.