State investigators are describing as suspicious the cause of a fire Tuesday night at the former Lake George Motor Lodge at 39 Main St. in Canaan. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel
CANAAN — Investigators from the Office of State Fire Marshal are probing the cause of a fire Tuesday night that destroyed a vacant, eight-unit motel at 39 Main St.
Firefighters from several towns responded to the blaze, reported just after 8 p.m. at the former Lake George Motor Lodge, near the corner of Oak Pond Road.
As many as 20 firefighters were at the scene at one point, according to Chief Charlie Worcester of the Canaan Fire Department.
Worcester said Wednesday he called the state fire marshal’s office, which sent investigators to the scene Tuesday night.
Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the fire marshal’s office, said investigators had determined the fire’s cause was suspicious. The investigation was ongoing Wednesday.
Worcester said emergency medical services, or EMS, from Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan stood by at the scene and no injuries were reported.
There were three buildings at the site, and the fire was contained to the one that was destroyed, which Worcester estimated was 16 by 80 feet. Firefighters were able to prevent flames from spreading to the closest building, about 10 feet away.
The buildings are set back about 75 feet from Main Street, Worcester said.
The vacant motel is about a half-mile from downtown Canaan and adjacent to a lot where a former pawn shop at the corner of Oak Pond Road was destroyed by fire in 2020.
“They determined that was arson,” Worcester said of the pawn shop fire, for which no suspect has been identified. Prior to being a pawn shop, the building housed a restaurant.
Firefighters from Athens, Canaan, Clinton, Fairfield, Harmony, Hartland, Madison, Pittsfield and Skowhegan responded to Tuesday’s fire, according to Worcester. The last firefighters left the scene at about 10:30 p.m.
Worcester said he did not know who owns the property, which is just east of Lake George Regional Park East.
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