BATH

Bath Housing officials say 10 elderly and disabled residents were displaced by Sunday’s fire at Seacliff Apartments.

“While the fire originated in an apartment on the first floor, 10 of the 40 residents have been displaced due to water and smoke damage on the first and second floors,” Executive Director Deborah Keller wrote in an email Tuesday.

Residents evacuated quickly and without injury thanks to the quick response by firefighters and members of LifeCurch, which was holding services in the senior center next door, according to Keller. She also credited recent fire drills with helping the evacuation go smoothly.

Two cats in the apartment where the fire started escaped as well.

The Floral Street building contains about 40 low-income units for the elderly and disabled and is managed by Bath Housing.

“The partnership between the city of Bath and Bath Housing related to fire prevention, training, and inspections directly improved the response to this incident,” Keller said.

An investigator with the state fire marshal’s office began trying to determine the cause of the fire Tuesday. Bath Fire Chief Lawrence Renaud said Tuesday afternoon the cause hadn’t yet been determined, but that the fire started in the living room area of the firstfloor apartment.

The fire was reported at 10:17 a.m. Sunday. Keller said by 3:15 p.m. that same day, residents of 30 of the 40 apartments were allowed to move back in.

Representatives of Servpro, which offers cleaning and restoration services, were in the building Tuesday to figure out what needed to be done to make the 10 damaged units habitable again.

The 10 displaced residents have been temporarily relocated with help by the American Red Cross. Jim Cyr, spokesman for the American Red Cross, said the 10 tenants were given vouchers to stay in a local hotel. Two of the 10 made other arrangements, he said.

“We’ll start to plan with each resi- dent any relocation strategy,” Keller said Tuesday.

Keller credited LifeChurch Midcoast and the Bath Area Senior Activity Center, which provided immediate help Sunday with food, space and logistical support.

There has been an outpouring of support, Keller said. Once Bath Housing gets a better sense of the needs of the displaced tenants, it will be reaching out to the community.

“This event has been stressful, not just for those displaced, but also for those who returned to their units Sunday afternoon,” Keller wrote in the email. “We are so thankful that there were no injuries.”

dmoore@timesrecord.com

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