Photos/Story Courtesy
HOLLY S. ANDERSON
Rockland Village Soup
UNION (May 25) -- At least 50 firefighters battled a roaring fire Friday afternoon at Union Common. The fire ripped through the building that houses the Union Laundromat and Union Natural Health, at the west end of the common.
The fire was reported shortly after 4 p.m. Firefighers from at least five towns, including Camden, Hope, Appleton, Warren and Washington, descended on the common as a crowd amassed on the lawn. A group of firefighters had just entered the front of the building around 5 p.m., and were reportedly only 15 to 20 feet inside when the fire appeared to flash under the roof turning the white steam to black, acrid smoke. Sounding an alarm, sirens pealed from three engines and firefighters retreated out and away from the building.
The Rockport Fire Department stood by at the Union Fire Station while the others battled to knock the fire down.
Flames could be seen roaring in the attic as hoses were trained all around the building. Water was also directed on adjacent buildings -- Hannibal's Cafe on one side; on the other side, a building houses a ground-level video store and gift shop and apartments upstairs.
Around 5:30 p.m., without warning, and as a group of firefighters were preparing to enter the building again, the front wall of the third floor and attic broke loose and fell forward to the ground, sending firefighters, emergency support people and onlookers fleeing.
The upper floor walls of the left and right side of the building bulged and swayed as fire ate away at their support beams. Once the front of the building fell, firefighters were able to deluge the inside of the structure with water.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. An onlooker said the third floor of the building was once a ballroom. Given the age of building, it did not have fire walls that would have helped slow or stop the fire.
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