Presque Isle fire officials may change how soon they allow people back inside once a fire is out.
An Oct. 31 blaze destroyed 572 Main St., which housed a business space on the ground floor and several apartments. No tenants were injured.
Firefighters cleared the scene and residents returned to their homes, but a second wave of fire erupted and destroyed the building. Amid questions as to why people were allowed back inside the first time, the Presque Isle Fire Department is considering procedural changes to keep residents away longer in case a fire restarts.
Michelle Gattuso lived in the third-floor apartment and lost everything, including her two cats.
“I believe the fire department should have done something different,” Gattuso said. “I believe that they should never have let anybody go back in that building for at least 24 hours. That’s what I would like to establish as a new protocol.”
The first fire started a little after 2 a.m., she said. There was no smoke in her apartment, but crews evacuated everyone and had them move their vehicles out of the parking lot. A firefighter told residents that it was safe to go back inside, she said.
About two hours later, she heard banging on her door and her apartment was full of smoke, she said. Everyone was evacuated again as the fire increased and ultimately took down the building, which she said had a history of safety problems.
“They didn’t warn us to be prepared in case it rekindled,” she said. “When you hear it from the firefighters, you believe you’re safe.”
The Maine fire marshal’s office determined a smoldering ash bucket in an attached shed caused the fire. Investigators found the original fire was still burning, undetected, through “multiple layers of wall and roof materials,” which eventually burst into flames, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Aaron Turcotte said Nov. 2.
Presque Isle firefighters were confident the first fire was completely out, Chief Darrell White said.
“We checked all the parts with thermal imaging cameras twice and felt pretty confident we got the fire out, and we allowed people back into the building,” he said. “The reason we let them back in [was] the fire was on the exterior part of the main building and we were confident that we had extinguished it all and there was no extension.”
The attached lean-to which stored firewood and ashes was attached to the outside wall of the main building, as was the chimney, he said. Local and state investigators believe that sparks or an ember flew from the original fire, got in behind the chimney and started burning, White said.
The department is rehashing its procedures.
“We definitely would change the way we do things and keep people out for a longer time,” he said. “We would recommend they be allowed back in, but remain on a fire watch and not go to sleep.”
The building is a total loss, the fire department reported.
Developer Chad Graham bought the property from Eugene Knight in 2021. City officials found periodic code violations, according to records obtained by the Bangor Daily News.
Code enforcement officials notified Knight in 2012 about mold, a broken bathroom exhaust fan, a refrigerator leaking water and lifting carpet behind a refrigerator. A 2021 letter told Knight to replace steps and handrails, add a thermostat cover, replace a broken window, install window screens, replace front door framing and ceiling tiles and address mold.
A 2023 letter to Graham noted such things as holes in a wall and kitchen flooring and a broken windowpane, and told Graham to add ground fault circuit interrupters, carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, and to update fire extinguishers. The deficiencies were resolved at that time, according to Graham and code enforcement.
The fire’s cause wasn’t related to code violations, Graham said. The building had nine apartments and one commercial space.
“We were able to place a few of the tenants and we had a couple of other landlords who were accommodating with a handful more,” he said.
He plans to rebuild in the spring after demolition and site cleanup.
Gattuso is grateful for her employers at Pat’s Pizza, who offered her immediate support and a place to live, she said.
“I have a job that I love. I’m in a town that I love. I’m OK,” Gattuso said.
But she worries for people who might experience a similar situation. She’d like to start a foundation to help people and pets displaced by fires.
She hopes the fire department changes its procedures and will keep people out of a building for at least 24 hours to make certain flames don’t restart.
“That’s something I want to change out of all of this,” she said. “If good comes from this, then that will be a success story.”