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Two local firefighters walk past 29 Old Orchard Street after a fire was put out on Wednesday night. The state fire marshal has deemed the fire as arson.
Two local firefighters walk past 29 Old Orchard Street after a fire was put out on Wednesday night. The state fire marshal has deemed the fire as arson.
OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Authorities say a fire in a vacant downtown building Wednesday night was arson.

Firefighters were called to the scene around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday at 29 Old Orchard St., according to Fire Captain Brett Jones. The building houses a seasonal T-shirt shop on the first floor, which was closed for the winter, and apartments on the second and third floors. Officials say there was no power to the building and that no one has lived in the apartments for years. The owner of the building lives in New York.

The fire originated on the second floor and caused “heavy fire damage” to the second and third stories, said Jones.

Sgt. Joel Davis of the State Fire Marshal’s Office says the fire may not have been intentionally set, but that it’s still arson if the people responsible were there and were not supposed to be.


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