Arson Damages Two Maine Apartment Buildings

BANGOR, Maine – A fire that damaged two Union Street apartment buildings and displaced five people was arson, investigators revealed Saturday.

No injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available, firefighters said.

Investigators Scott Richardson and Stewart Jacobs of the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office made the determination after inspecting damage at 203 and 205 Union St., Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Riitano said.

“Now it is in the hands of the fire marshal’s office and the Bangor Police Department,” Riitano said Saturday.

Firefighters extinguished a fire that damaged the exterior and interior of a first-floor apartment and were searching for remaining hot spots at 203 Union St. when witnesses discovered a fire burning in a first-floor apartment at 205 Union St., Riitano said.

A passer-by called 911 and reported the fire at about 9:30 a.m., Bangor dispatchers said. The two buildings are not connected but are several feet apart from each other.

Robert Kearns said he was showering in his second-floor apartment at 205 Union St. when he heard someone yelling, “Bob! Bob! Bob!” That was his friend, 33-year-old Natasha Stewart, who was on her way over to his place from her Cedar Street apartment for coffee.

“I looked out the window, and the whole alleyway is engulfed in flames at the end of the house” at 203 Union St., 46-year-old Kearns said.

Kearns hustled himself and his family out of his apartment. After firefighters let him back into his apartment, his son said he smelled smoke. The first-floor unit below them was on fire, Kearns said.

The first-floor unit and his had extensive fire, water or smoke damage. About a dozen residents live in the complex, said Kearns.

Firefighters did interior fire attacks in both buildings, Riitano said. A utility company also cut electricity because of the incident.

The two apartment buildings are adjacent to a church and opposite the shopping plaza on Union Street that houses a Rite-Aid Pharmacy and Ichiban restaurant. Firefighters and police blocked Union Street at Hammond and Clinton streets for about two hours.

Bangor Detective Tim Shaw is handling the investigation, Riitano said.