UPDATE: Mechanic Falls mill still burning; investigation into cause begins
MECHANIC FALLS — A fire that destroyed a large mill building on Lewiston Street was still burning at 11 p.m. Sunday.
According to a Facebook post by the Town of Mechanic Falls, crews expected to battle the blaze well into Monday morning.
The fire was reported just after 1 p.m., and the building was fully consumed by flames by the time firefighters arrived at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, according to witnesses.
The fire created a cloud of thick, black smoke that could be seen for miles.
The large building served several businesses, including as a warehouse for Maine Cycle, and was filled with motorcycles and parts. Corcoran Environmental Services, which recycles plastics, also operated at the mill.
According to Zakk Maher, town manager in Mechanic Falls, the building is owned by Charles Starbird.
According to buzzfile.com, a company information database, Starbird owns Magnum Enterprises, a construction company, and Magnum Homes, which builds houses. Both businesses are based in Mechanic Falls.
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- Flames pour out of windows in an area of the mill that appears to have apartments in Mechanic Falls on Sunday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- Josh Herlihy, a buisness owner and realtor in Mechanic Falls, took an aerial photo of the fire Sunday afternoon. (Josh Herlihy photo)
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- The inside of the mill collapses under heavy fire damage in Mechanic Falls on Sunday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- Smoke rises from the massive mill fire as seen from Lewiston Street in downtown Mechanic Falls on Sunday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- Mechanic Falls firefighters battle the mill fire in Mechanic Falls on Sunday. Firefighters from more than 15 departments assisted with the fire. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- Mechanic Falls firefighters battle the mill fire in Mechanic Falls on Sunday. Firefighters from more than 15 departments assisted with the fire. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- Auburn firefighters battle the mill fire in Mechanic Falls on Sunday. Firefighters from more than 15 departments assisted with the fire. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- A firefighter sprays water on the massive mill fire in downtown Mechanic Falls on Sunday. At least six ladder trucks from various fire departments were used to battle the blaze. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- Flames pour out of windows in an area of the mill that appears to have apartments in Mechanic Falls on Sunday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- A Mechanic Falls firefighter sprays water on the massive mill fire in downtown Mechanic Falls on Sunday. At least six ladder trucks from various fire departments were used to battle the blaze. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- Smoke rises from the massive mill fire in downtown Mechanic Falls on Sunday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- People gather on the Pleasant Street bridge in downtown Mechanic Falls to watch the mill fire on Sunday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- People gather on the Pleasant Street bridge in downtown Mechanic Falls to watch the mill fire on Sunday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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- A mill building on Lewiston Street in Mechanic Falls was destroyed by a fast-moving fire Sunday afternoon, throwing flames and thick, black smoke high into the air. According to Town Manager Zakk Maher, the proximity of the Little Androscoggin River just behind the mill gave firefighters some breathing room because they didn’t have to worry about flames jumping to other buildings in that direction. (Derek Colbath photo)
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- A warehouse on Lewiston Street in Mechanic Falls, where several businesses are housed, including Maine Cycle, was destroyed by fire Sunday afternoon. Here, multiple fire departments tackle the blaze as sunshine creates a rainbow through water falling from a fire hose. (Mariah Carroll photo)
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- More than an hour after a fire started at Maine Cycle on Lewiston Street in Mechanic Falls, black smoke continued billowing out of the old mill building. People reported seeing the smoke from as far away as Sebago Lake. (Kim Valladares photo)
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- Firefighters from more than a dozen departments have converged in Mechanic Falls to battle a blaze at Maine Cycle on Lewiston Street. The mill building has been used to warehouse motorcycles and parts since 2015 and the burning contents have produced billowing black smoke that can be seen for miles. (Laura Hodgman photo)
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- Smoke billows from Maine Cycle in Mechanic Falls Sunday afternoon as firefighters from more than a dozen departments battled the blaze. As people stood watching the dramatic scene from a nearby bridge, a portion of the building could be seen collapsing. (Jon Bolduc/Sun Journal)
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- A building on Lewiston Street in Mechanic Falls is engulfed by fire just before 2 p.m. Sunday. A number of people reported seeing a cloud of thick, dark smoke from miles away. (Amy Hoover photo)
By 6 p.m. Sunday the fire was roughly 45 percent contained, the town reported in a Facebook post. Fire officials said no one was injured in the blaze, and the cause was not yet known, according to Maher.
Throughout the afternoon, onlookers watched as the fire raged. By midafternoon, a section of the building had collapsed as more than 50 people watched from a nearby bridge.
“It was a very large fire that was extremely high, with tons of black smoke,” said Lindsey Campbell, who lives in the area. “There were mini explosions. Nothing like I’ve ever seen in person before.”
Other witnesses reported flames that reached at least 80 feet into the sky. Several people reported seeing smoke from as far away as Gray.
David Hodgkin of Poland Spring was among the first on the scene. He said when he arrived, there were flames shooting out from the eaves of the building.
“It was fully engulfed within minutes,” Hodgkin said.
Police helped at least one man out of his apartment, located in a separate building near the mill.
Firefighters from 19 departments, including Oxford, Norway, Paris, Casco, Poland, New Gloucester and Auburn, were called to assist in battling the blaze or to fill in at area fire stations.
Multiple firetrucks poured water onto the building, and tankers were sent from several towns, including Bowdoin, Bath and Lisbon.
Witnesses said it appeared the fire started in the Maine Cycle warehouse. According to the company website, the warehouse moved to the Lewiston Street location in 2015 from its former warehouse in Auburn.
The company, which buys, sells and trades motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and parts for these machines, specializes in models from the 1970s and 1980s.
Allisa Greenwood watched the fire from the sidewalk.
“I remember this building from when I was this high,” she said, gesturing a few feet from the ground. “My uncle used to come home from working in the mill and he’d smell.”
Maher said the old building, a former Marcal Paper mill, was not on any historic registries.
“That mill built this town,” Hodgkin said. “It’s a shame to see it go.”
As crews fought the fire, Maher said the building’s proximity to the Little Androscoggin River gave firefighters “a little breathing room” in their efforts to confine the flames.
Maher said he expected the cleanup would take days, but “the main goal is getting the firefighters through the process without anyone getting hurt.”
The American Legion on nearby Elm Street opened to serve food and water to firefighters and other emergency workers, according to Maher, and the Red Cross was mobilized to help those displaced by the fire.
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