BRUNSWICK
Brunswick Fire Department responded to a fire Tuesday at 17 Wadsworth Road and quickly extinguished a fire in one of the apartments before it caused significant damage.
Brunswick Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Emerson said the fire was reported at 5:31 p.m. and was contained to a bedroom in Apt. 5. Damage was limited to some personal belongings and some flooring, he said. The fire was caused by inappropriate handling of smoking materials.
Approximately 15 people had evacuated from the 8- unit apartment building when firefighters arrived. Firefighters helped the tenant out of the building who was in the apartment where the fire took place.
Emerson said no one was injured. While initially reported there may have been some cats injured in the fire, he said at least one cat was found in good health and no animals or people would have been expected to have been injured in these conditions.
The fire was discovered by witnesses and firefighters were initially dispatched to Federal Street due to some confusion of the name of the street. However dispatchers in the communications center immediately realized something didn’t look right and let the fire department know the fire may actually be on Wadsworth Road.
Emerson said the officer in charge made the decision to split his company and respond to both addresses, which was a good decision and allowed crews to get to the fire quickly. They put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, ventilated the building and there was very little smoke or heat damage, if any.
Brunswick police assisted.
Emerson said although the cause of the fire was determined to be accidental, the case remains under investigation.
The apartment building is an unprotected wood frame building which means it has no sprinklers and minimal smoke detection, Emerson said. A fire of this nature had it occurred in the overnight hours may have grown substantially larger before being discovered and reported.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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