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- Crews from Gendron and Gendron of Lewiston work Tuesday to demolish 105-111 Blake St. and 172 Bates St. in Lewiston after Monday’s fire. The two buildings were in danger of imminent collapse. The building on Pine Street likely will be taken down later this week.
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- Joe Santos, left,and his girlfriend, Angela Gayton, look for the first time at what remains of their third-floor apartment at 76 Pine St. in Lewiston after Monday night’s devastating fire. “I just started over and I watched everything burn,” said Gayton, who was able to get herself and her newborn, Stella Rose Santos, out of the apartment safely while Santos was at work. The couple did not have insurance.
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- Lesley Sullivan, who lives on Pine Street, offers a baked good to Mackenzi Spear, 4, and her future stepfather, Justin Foster, on Bates Street on Tuesday morning. Sullivan is a member of The Center for Wisdom’s Women, which is a neighbor to the apartment buildings that burned Monday.
At 4:30 p.m. Monday, fire ripped through an apartment building at 105 Blake St. and spread to two nearby apartment buildings. Firefighters from Auburn and Lewiston remained overnight at the fire scene, watching for hot spots and keeping onlookers away from the brittle buildings.
By 10 a.m. Tuesday, contractors had arrived to take down two of the buildings — the Blake Street and Bates Street buildings — that were in danger of imminent collapse. The building on Pine Street likely will be taken down later this week.
Seventy-five people living in those apartment buildings were displaced as a result of the fire, and several pets were killed, including a pot-bellied pig on the third floor of the Blake Street building.
At the height of fighting the fire Monday evening, an Auburn firefighter set his helmet on the back of the truck, and the helmet was stolen. Deputy Chief James Minkowsky said the theft left that firefighter without head protection at the scene. Minkowsky has asked that the helmet be returned to the department.
According to Assistant Chief Bruce McKay of the Lewiston Fire Department, state officials were at the site early Tuesday morning to attempt to start their investigation into the origin and cause of the fire. Later in the day, investigators said it would be days before a cause could be determined, if one could be determined.
Local firefighters staffed the scene all day, helping with traffic control and assisting eight state fire investigators with their work. Just after noon, three fire investigators were lifted in a ladder truck to inspect the buildings from the air because the buildings were deemed too unsafe to enter.
Early Tuesday, Central Maine Power crews were working on lines along the blocks surrounding the fire, and dozens of people stood along sidewalks and in the middle of closed streets watching the work crews and talking about the fire and the people who had been living in the burned buildings.
The foot traffic continued through the day, as people took pictures and stood to watch crews demolish the buildings.
Public Works crews were at work early, starting cleanup of the parking lot between Bates and Blake streets.
Around the corner, at 82 Pine St., the front doors of the apartment building were standing open and water was pouring out of the first-floor apartments and down the front stoop. All of the windows in that building had been smashed, allowing people to see the tossed furniture and other chaos inside the apartments.
Bates and Blake streets were closed between Pine and Ash streets through most of Tuesday, and traffic moved slowly because the light at Bates and Park street was out.
Friends of the fire victims have started a donation drive for clothes and other necessities. Clothes and small items can be dropped at Kmart in Auburn, the Salvation Army on Park Street in Lewiston and the YWCA on East Avenue in Lewiston.
The United Valley chapter of the American Red Cross placed 14 people in local hotels immediately after the fire, according to branch manager Jennifer Gaylord. The rest of the fire victims found shelter with friends and family.
Branch said the number of vouchers distributed by the Red Cross could go up mid-week, as families move around.
Red Cross staff and volunteers met with fire victims Monday night, Gaylord said, to make sure everyone had the basics, including food, shelter and clothing.
On Tuesday, volunteers were meeting with more people for follow-ups and offering mental health services to fire victims.
“This is a horribly traumatic experience — people have lost everything,” Gaylord said. “The thing I kept hearing last night was, ‘What do I do now?'”
Red Cross helps with rental referrals and prescription medicine replacement.
“Our biggest concern is to get them a place to stay,” Gaylord said.
To make a donation, go to redcross.org/me or call 795-4004, ext. 301
The apartment building at 105 Blake St. was valued at $191,340, according to tax records, and is owned by Watkins Property Management. It had been condemned and was scheduled to be auctioned May 22, according to a neighbor.
The building at 172 Bates St. is owned by Caron Property Management and was assessed at $210,000. It had an “auction” sign hanging on the Bates Street side.
The building at 82 Pine St. is owned by ASM Properties.
Lewiston cleans up after massive fire:
- Donations pouring in for fire victims
- Investigating fire’s cause likely to be a ‘long process’
- Monday: Fire destroys 3 buildings
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