Fire in Lewiston’s Little Canada burns three buildings, displaces tenants

LEWISTON Firefighters worked for hours Tuesday to put out a fire that involved three buildings in the area of the city known as Little Canada.

The fire involved a 12-unit, four-story apartment building at 32-34 River St., a 1-story, single-family structure next door at 46 River St., and a third building that also appeared to house apartments.

Police said no injuries were reported. One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion and then released.

By late Tuesday, no cause had been determined, fire investigator Paul Ouellette said. He said he did not know how many people had been displaced.

The fire broke out shortly before 11 a.m. By 2 p.m., firefighters were focused on the four-story building whose roof had collapsed. Flames continued to appear at the roofline and hidden hot spots under the debris continued to smolder.

Fire Chief Paul LeClair said at 2 p.m. that fire investigators from his department and six investigators from the state fire marshals office were on scene and planned to complete investigations into the cause and area of origin of the fire once the buildings were safe. At that time, officials would determine whether any of the buildings would have to be demolished. The four-story building was heavily damaged, he said.

He said firefighters worked hard to keep the fire from spreading to neighboring buildings.

Crews likely would monitor the buildings overnight, he said.

At 2:30 p.m., radio traffic indicated firefighters were entering 32-34 River St. They checked all of the floors, going from apartment to apartment. They recovered valuables of the tenants and several pets that survived the ordeal.

By 3:30 p.m., crews began to clean up the scene, rolling up hoses and clearing debris from the streets and sidewalk. The fire was declared to be out just before 5:30 p.m.

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Fire in Lewiston’s Little Canada burns three buildings, displaces tenants