Maine Snowmobile Clubhouse Target of Arson Fire

The Gorham Sno Goers made their final mortgage payment last month, giving the group ownership of their clubhouse -- a two-story former Grange hall at 209 Mighty St. in Gorham.

Early Saturday, the gathering place for the local snowmobile club was reduced to a pile of smoldering rubble, one of three targets in a string of arson fires that has put local and state authorities as well as Gorham residents on edge.

"It is pretty upsetting," said Grant Caron, the club's treasurer. "We just made our last payment. We thought we were finally out of the woods."

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Fire Marshal's Office, said a team of four fire marshal investigators are working with local firefighters and police in an attempt to find the person who set the fires, one of which resulted in the injury of a firefighter.

--In the first fire, a home on Spiller Road sustained significant damage to its exterior Tuesday morning.

--McCausland said a third fire destroyed a single-family home on Great Falls Road on Sunday morning.

All of the buildings were unoccupied at the time.

Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre said authorities are calling on the public for help in finding out who set the fires.

"We're telling people to keep their eyes open, to watch for things that are not familiar to your neighborhood, especially if you live near a vacant building," Lefebvre said. "We are hopeful that residents will stay alert and report anything, even if it seems unimportant. We'd rather chase a lead that turns out to be nothing than have it be the one lead that could help us break this case."

Lefebvre said the arson fires are puzzling because the buildings were unoccupied.

"I couldn't tell you if it was a kid or an adult. At this point we really don't have any leads," he said.

The first fire was reported Tuesday morning at 70 Spiller Road, a home which the chief said was vacant and had been foreclosed on.

Sunday morning's fire destroyed another vacant home, at 5 Great Falls Road. Lefebvre said the home was undergoing renovations. A town firefighter was taken to a hospital after a hose line detached from a fire truck and whipped him across the leg and head.

The firefighter, whose name was unavailable, was released from Maine Medical Center on Sunday afternoon.

The fire at the Gorham Sno Goers clubhouse started about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

The fire leveled the building, leaving nothing behind but a pile of charred wooden beams.

Caron, the organization's treasurer, said the snowmobile club purchased the building from the Gorham North Street Ladies Aid Society about 10 years ago.

Although the building was insured, Caron said the club lost all its trail signs in the fire.

Members met there about six times a year to hold elections, business meetings and to host fundraising events.

Caron said the hall was an old structure that may have been built in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Dances used to be held on the second floor, although members had closed off that area to save on heating costs.

Caron said the club will hold an emergency session to determine where it should hold its meetings.

Copyright 2012 - Portland Press Herald, Maine

McClatchy-Tribune News Service