RUMFORD — A fire of unknown origin heavily damaged a marijuana grow room in the back of a wood products plant on Route 2 on Saturday morning, Rumford Fire Chief Chris Reed said.
There were no injuries.
An investigator from the state Fire Marshal’s Office will inspect the scene Monday to try to determine the cause, the chief said.
No one was in the 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot Woodworkers Paradise plant when firefighters arrived, and Reed said to his knowledge no one was inside at the time of the alarm at 8:46 a.m.
He said the fire started in the 40- by 25-foot grow room, which is rented from the furniture business owner, whose name was not immediately available. The fire was contained to that room, and fire crews cut a hole in the roof above it to vent heat and smoke.
“Everything in there was made out of combustible materials” such as wood and plastic, he said.
Reed said he did not know who rented the grow room.
Woodworkers Paradise manufactures furniture and displays its products in a showroom, which firefighters emptied of high-value pieces to prevent further damage, Reed said.
Reed said there was no estimate of the financial loss and it was not known if there was insurance coverage on the building.
Firefighters from Andover, Mexico, Peru, Dixfield and Bethel assisted in extinguishing the blaze by 10:30 a.m.
emarquis@sunmediagroup.net
Smoke and steam rise from the Woodworkers Paradise building on Route 2 in Rumford on Saturday morning, where Rumford Fire Chief Chris Reed said a flames erupted in a rented marijuana grow room. (Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times)ames
Firefighters from six different towns fought to contain the fire that broke out in the back of the Woodworkers Paradise building on Route 2 in Rumford on Saturday morning. (Liz Marquis/Sun Journal)
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