LEWISTON — A third-floor apartment at 92 Pine St. was heavily damaged Monday afternoon by a fire of undetermined origin. There were no apparent injuries.

“I saw smoke coming out of the window and then I saw somebody kicking the door (from the outside) and that’s when I called it in,” said Dan Breton of Sabattus who was sitting in his van at Pierce and Pine streets when the fire started.

Smoke and flames billowed from the third floor as Lewiston and Auburn fire departments responded to the scene and firefighters swarmed the house. They cut down trees to access one of the apartment windows in the back of the house.

The two residents of the apartment looked on as they spoke to a fire investigator from across the street.

“(The fire) was right in front of my window, it was crazy,” said Keragann Rainey, 28, who lives on the second floor. “It was me and my son up there. We started smelling it and knocking on neighbors’ doors like ‘Is your apartment on fire?’ and then I saw it when I came out outside.”

The building was evacuated by the time authorities arrived.

Fire engines and police cruisers were parked on the street as spectators stood on sidewalks, many lifting phones to film the spectacle or to shield their eyes from the sun.

A fire investigator at the scene said the cause is under investigation.

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