Brunswick fire crews respond to a fire and possible explosion at 23 Oak St. The fire, reported at 2:30 p.m., resulted in severe smoke injuries to a resident of the second floor of the five-unit apartment house. The victim, a 53-year-old man, suffered smoke inhalation and facial burns and was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Brunswick fire crews respond to a fire and possible explosion at 23 Oak St. The fire, reported at 2:30 p.m., resulted in severe smoke injuries to a resident of the second floor of the five-unit apartment house. The victim, a 53-year-old man, suffered smoke inhalation and facial burns and was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

BRUNSWICK

Brunswick firefighters extinguish a blaze at a five-unit apartment house at 23 Oak St. that severely injured a 53-year-old man.

Brunswick firefighters extinguish a blaze at a five-unit apartment house at 23 Oak St. that severely injured a 53-year-old man.

A 53-year-old Brunswick man was transported to a Portland hospital with life-threatening injuries after an apparent explosion inside a five-unit Brunswick apartment building sparked a two-alarm fire Friday.

Brunswick Fire Department Fire Chief Ken Brillant said crews responding to a report of a fire at approximately 2:30 p.m. Friday found the man outside the building suffering from smoke inhalation and facial burns. 

Local police and fire officials declined to identify the man this morning, three days after the incident. The man — identified by neighbors as Gerald Sanford, 53 —  was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was listed in satisfactory condition this morning.

The fire, at 23 Oak St. was extinguished at 2:55 p.m. Friday. Freeport and Topsham fire departments also responded and Bath and West Bath provided station coverage.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal was called to investigate. Brunswick’s Captain Robert Robitaille said the fire marshal investigator had determined that smoking material caused the fire, but further details remain under investigation.  

Unconfirmed reports from bystanders indicate an oxygen tank within a residence may have exploded. 

Brillant said most of the damage was confined to the man’s apartment, although a lower apartment may also have sustained water damage. He said most of the residents of the apartment building will be able to reoccupy their dwellings.

Walter Dall was visiting his cousin’s mom at the time of the alleged explosion. “Everything started smoking and the fire alarm went off. Then it was just pandemonium,” he said.

Stella Bloodgood lives in the apartment below the injured man and said she heard him fall. She said her son-in-law ran upstairs to check on him and yelled for someone to call 911, put the man on over his shoulder and carried him out of the building. The fire alarm was sounding as well, Bloodgood said, but she didn’t hear “a blowout.” 

Robitaille said tenants were let back into all of the apartments except the one where the fire occurred and the apartment below. The lower apartment should be habitable after the weekend.


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