Firefighters extinguished a fire that destroyed a parked vehicle that ignited on Southard Street Wednesday before it caused extensive damage to the commercial building sitting only inches away.
The Chevrolet Tahoe was parked in front of a Fair- Point building at 5 Southard St. when it caught fire, which was reported to the fire department at about 5:35 p.m.
Richmond Fire Chief Matt Roberge said when he arrived, the vehicle was fully involved and melting the siding of the building. The vehicle was parked when it ignited, which Roberge said likely was electrical. When vehicles catch fire they get hot quickly due to the plastics in them, but firefighters had the fire knocked down in about 15 minutes once the engine arrived on scene.
The main challenge was getting manpower and resources due to the time of day the call came in, Roberge said. Bowdoinham, Dresden and Bowdoin fire departments responded and Litchfield was paged but didn’t make it to the scene. Fair- Point had staff enroute that would check inside to make sure the building interior was safe, though the insulation behind the siding left exposed didn’t appear damaged.
Bystanders were a big help in this situation, Roberge said. One man on scene, a former firefighter, got an extinguisher from the fire station, another man allowed firefighters to use his Sawzall to get the hood open that was stuck; and someone else helped pull the hose to the hydrant.
The owner, Kevin Steele or Richmond was at the nearby fields where his son had soccer practice when he saw he vehicle was on fire. He pulled some paperwork from the vehicle he used to drive to meet with customers as the owner of a landscape company, but wasn’t able to get any more. He drove about 200 miles Wednesday and said the vehicle, a 2005, had never had a problem and was wellmaintained.
The vehicle was insured and Steele said he does have other vehicles.
The Tahoe was hauled away by Rick’s Towing of Richmond.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less