A fire that broke out at CVS on Main Street in Westbrook was one of three recent fires being investigated by the police.

A meeting between the Westbrook police and fire departments was scheduled to be held Wednesday to look further into the cause of the fires, all of which started outside of buildings on Main Street, and whether they are related.

“We have had three unexplained fires in a short period of time,” said Detective John Desjardins. “We’re trying to put our heads together.”

The other fires were outside Pratt-Abbott Cleaners on Dec. 22 and in front of an apartment building on Nov. 19.

According to Westbrook Fire Chief Gary Littlefield, the fire at CVS on Dec. 26 started around 11:30 p.m. in a trash receptacle outside the building. The flames heated up the glass windows and broke through into the building. Littlefield said the sprinkler system contained the fire to the entranceway, causing an estimated $20,000 to $30,000 in damages.

Mike DeAngelis, spokesman for CVS, said the damage was mostly on the exterior of the building and very little merchandise was lost. The store reopened on Dec. 27.

Littlefield said the fire at Pratt-Abbott was ignited in a trash bin outside of the building at around 11 p.m. on Dec. 22. The flames melted the vinyl siding on the outside of the building. He said more extensive damage was done to the second and third floors of the apartment building, across from Pizza by Angelone on Pleasant Street. Like the one at CVS, the fire started in a trash can.

Desjardins said the CVS fire started under “suspicious circumstances,” but the department is trying to rule out any accidental causes before it can be determined whether it was arson. He said, though they can determine where the fire started, it is particularly difficult to figure out how it was started in these cases because all the evidence is burned. He said there are no suspects at this time.

“We’re just trying to see if any of these are related,” he said.

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