April 29--LEWISTON -- A three-alarm fire destroyed three buildings in downtown Lewiston on Monday afternoon, leaving dozens of people homeless.
By Monday evening, Fire Chief Paul LeClair said the fire was under control.
No one who has been accounted for is injured, but a full accounting of possible residents will take a while longer, according to LeClair.
"We've got thousands of gallons of water flowing," he said. "We'll be here through the overnight." Fire companies came from five neighboring communities to help.
Firefighters cordoned off several blocks around Blake Street, where the blaze erupted about 5:30 pm., and hundreds of people gathered in the densely populated neighborhood to watch firefighters extinguish the smoky blaze.
At Bates and Pine streets, a wall of yellow-green smoke obscured the area near where the fire began, but through the haze it could be seen that at least two multi-unit buildings were burning.
The Sun Journal says demand for water was so great that firefighters were worried there wasn't enough water pressure to quickly knock down the fire.
Eric Lyens, a response manager for the Red Cross, expected as many as 75 people to be displaced. While volunteers shuttled bottled water to the firefighters, Lyens and others attempted to identify people whose homes were lost.
"It's going to be a potential shelter operation with the number of people here," he said.
Felicia Day, 25, said she was home Monday afternoon when she and her 5-year-old heard a loud bang.
Their apartment at the corner of Pine and Blake streets overlooks the duplex at 111 Blake St. where she said the flames erupted.
"My son started crying and said, 'Mommy, there's a fire,' " Day said. "There are four or five families living there even though it was condemned March 19."
Dave Clay, 45, who lives on the third floor of an apartment building on Pine Street, said he was napping when he was awakened by a loud boom.
Next to his armchair, a hand-held scanner crackled out an address less than a block away.
"I heard it come across -- 109 Blake street up in flames," Clay said. "I went flying down the stairs."
Now his building, which was untouched by the fire, is without electricity.
This story will be updated.
Copyright 2013 - Portland Press Herald, Maine
