Origin and Cause of 666 Main St. Fire

Rockland, Maine - The State Fire Marshal’s Office and Rockland Fire and Police have concluded the fire investigation into the 666 Main St. apartment building fire last Thursday afternoon. Mary-Ann MacMaster of the State Fire Marshal’s Office changed the initial cause of the fire from “Undetermined” to “Accidental” after the investigation revealed the fire began in a canister style vacuum in a hallway. The occupant had just finished using the vacuum and placed it in the hall before leaving the apartment to run some errands. At the time she left, there was no indication of any issue with the unit, but shortly thereafter other building tenants noted the interconnected smoke alarms began to sounds. Unfortunately, these tenants, seeing no issue in their immediate units assumed the problem was an error in another unit, and did not investigate further until another 10-15 minutes had passed. At that time an odor of smoke was apparent in the apartment directly above the fire. From there the fire was quickly discovered and the tenants were able to alert all the building occupants and get them to evacuate safely. One resident noted she had to pass through a growing smoke condition as she exited the building. The Rockland Fire Department would like to bring up two key safety points we can all learn from this fire.

The First lesson: Smoke alarm activations must be treated as if there is a real fire. While it is human nature to seek the cause of the alarm, we should be ensuring the safety of all people first, before looking to find a fire, as in some cases, upon discovery the fire could affect safe egress. In many buildings smoke alarms are interconnected and can indicate the problem is elsewhere in the building. And if frequent false alarms occur seek better detectors, detector locations or alternatives, but do not removes or ignore the alarms because they truly are lifesaving equipment.

The Second lesson: All powered equipment despite built-in safety features, can be a source of ignition. With vacuums it is particularly important to remove the contents or bags whenever their full. Some indications that something may need to be addressed is a reduction in vacuum suction efficiency and/or a change in the sound of the unit. An additional caution is to be very aware of what is being vacuumed up, ashtrays, fireplaces and woodstoves can have tiny hot spots that aren’t seen but are easily hot enough to light the contents of a vacuum bag or canister.

The Third lesson: There is great value in closing doors and minimizing openings. The occupants at 666 Main St. did the right thing by opening the apartment to ensure anyone inside was not trapped or otherwise in need of help, but upon leaving the doorway, the door was left open. This is a relatively new priority for the fire service so a lot of education is needed to change prior practices. In most cases an open door will allow a smoldering fire the necessary oxygen to grow, thus any time we can minimize the amount of available oxygen to a fire we should. This means keeping doors to as many rooms as practical closed as often as practical. And upon discovery of a fire compartmentalizing it by closing doors as you’re exiting is one of the ways to minimize fire growth and property damage. All of these things  should only be done when it safe to do so, better that we routinely keep areas compartmentalized so that upon being alerted to a fire the focus is on getting everyone out safely.

FMI: James D Chaousis II, City Manager
City of Rockland
270 Pleasant Street
Rockland, ME 04841
Phone (207)593-0636
www.ci.rockland.me.us
jchaousis@ci.rockland.me.us