RUMFORD — A Rumford resident was injured Thursday morning in a fire that started in the kitchen area of his apartment at Hotel Harris on Hartford Street, fire Chief Bob Chase said.
Chase said the man, whose name he didn’t know, suffered burns on his hands and legs and smoke inhalation. Med-Care Ambulance took the man to Rumford Hospital, and then to Maine Medical Center in Portland, primarily for the smoke inhalation, Chase said.
He said he didn’t know the degree of the burns or the man’s condition.
The fire started shortly before 8:37 a.m., which is when Rumford firefighters were alerted by a fire alarm activation and a sprinkler flow alarm, he said.
When the initial crew got on scene on the third floor Apartment 202, they were met by heavy smoke and called for assistance from Mexico firefighters.
Chase said the automatic sprinkler system kept the fire contained to the apartment and mostly extinguished it. Firefighters didn’t have to use any water, but they did try to divert water from the sprinkler system out of the apartment to lessen water damage, he said.
“The sprinkler system definitely held it at bay,” Chase said.
He said the cause is still under investigation, but it began in the kitchen area. Calls to state fire investigator Dan Young, who also investigated the fire, were not returned.
Chase estimated fire and water damage at $10,000 to $15,000. He also said Island Indulgence Spa, a full-service salon and spa which is on the hotel’s first floor, sustained water damage.
Owner Cynthia Toher said on the business’s Facebook site that the spa will be open on Friday. Two ServiceMaster Clean vans were parked outside the business early Thursday evening while a crew vacuumed inside.
“We have a lot of water damage,” Toher posted on the social media site. “We’re cleaning it up. Any questions regarding appointments, give us a call.”
Chase said the hotel also houses efficiency apartments.
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- Rumford and Mexico firefighters, who were called to Hotel Harris on Thursday morning in Rumford for a fire alarm activation and a sprinkler flow alarm, discovered that the hotel’s sprinkler system extinguished a fire in Apartment No. 202. One man inside the apartment suffered burns and smoke inhalation and was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, Rumford fire Chief Bob Chase said.
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