Portland Fire Department responds to alarm at assisted living facility and discovers a fire in a laundry dryer.

Portland Ladder 3 raises its ladder to the roof of the Portland Center for Assisted Living as a precaution after a smokey fire destroyed a laundry dryer.  No injuries were reported and the fire is not considered suspicious.
Photo courtesy of the Portland Fire Department.

The fire was contained to a commercial laundry dryer which was destroyed in the incident.

Portland, Maine – The Portland Fire Department responded to an automatic fire alarm at the Portland Center for Assisted living at 68 Devonshire St.  When units arrived they discovered a fire in a laundry dryer.  The alarm sounded at 11:14am

It was quickly extinguished by the first arriving units.  According to Deputy Chief William Flynn “We evacuated the residents in the floor directly above the dryer room.  They were sheltered in place on the other side of a fire door”.

Fire doors are designed to contain a fire to an area for a determined period of time as required by Portland city building code.  

After the smoke was cleared and air quality was monitored and determined to be safe residents were allowed to return to their units.

Fire Chief Jerome LaMoria states “The fire alarm system worked exactly as designed ensuring a quick response which minimized the damage and ensured the safety of the buildings residents.  The value of a properly installed and maintained fire alarm system can not be understated.”  Preliminary damage estimates are $5000.00, the damage was limited to the commercial dryer unit.

The last fire unit left the scene at 12:14 pm. There were no reported injuries and the fire is not considered suspicious at this time.