A plume of black smoke rises from a fire on Long Island, as seen from South Portland, on Monday. Photo courtesy of Kevin Battle
One person remained unaccounted for late Monday night after a fire on Long Island that destroyed a two-story home.
“I can confirm that one person is unaccounted for,” Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Office of the State Fire Marshal, said in an email. She did not say who the missing person might be.
Moss said investigators from the state fire marshal’s office planned to spend Tuesday digging through about 6 feet of rubble to determine the cause of the fire, which destroyed the home at 41 Atlantic Lane.
The fire and a plume of black smoke could be seen from the Eastern Prom in Portland, as well as Falmouth and South Portland on Monday afternoon. The smoke covered the northern end of Long Island and parts of Cousins and Littlejohn islands.
“It was pretty significant,” said Portland Harbormaster Kevin Battle, who took photos of the smoke from Southern Maine Community College near Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse. “Whatever was burning out there was burning pretty good.”
Attempts to reach Long Island fire Chief Will Tierney were not successful Monday evening.
Long Island, which is only accessible from the mainland by boat or ferry, seceded from Portland in 1993. Its 2020 population was 234, according to the U.S. census.
Chebeague Island sent fire crews to Long Island. It was unclear whether Portland sent crews.
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