BANGOR, Maine — A fire inside a boarded-up and condemned house on Union Street in Bangor left five people trapped Sunday morning. Three men who were homeless died in the fire, and two women survived.
At least one of the men killed in the fire had been removed by the city from a tent encampment under the Interstate 395 bridge just last week.
Those killed were 28-year-old Tim Tuttle, 31-year-old Dylan Smith, and 56-year-old Andrew Allen.
On Monday morning, a memorial with flowers, letters, and other items was set up outside the house where the three men lost their lives.
Bangor police detectives are part of the investigation into the fire that Bangor Fire Chief Tom Higgins said was particularly tricky to fight.
"They were searching for the victims, but they also were trying to contain the fire somewhat as they are doing this, so there are a number of operations that have to be in place, that have to operate simultaneously, and they have to happen quickly," Higgins said.
"Members of our criminal investigation division are actively working it. There are a lot of moving parts and pieces. We are talking with a bunch of people, trying to collect evidence," Sgt. Wade Betters, public information officer from the Bangor Police Department, said.
Two of the three men who died in the fire spent part of the previous evening at a warming center run by the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, according to shelter director Boyd Kronholm.
People wander in and out of the shelter most nights to get something to eat and get warm but then leave. The shelter doesn't stay full most nights, but if it is full, the Brick Church in Bangor also has 24 seats available at night. They have not yet been full this year, Kronholm said.
"It's a really low barrier. There are no rules the only time you'd be barred and not let back in for a period of time is if you did assault or any type of violence stuff," he said.
The Bangor Area Homeless Shelter is open overnight for anyone looking to stay warm during the cold winter nights from 6 p.m.-5:30 .a.m.
Brandon Cronk was on Union Street early Sunday morning, collecting bottle caps, when he heard someone yelling and saw smoke coming out of the house. He said a woman was shouting for help from the second floor of the house.
"When I came down like that, she jumped. I rolled her into here [an embankment] and brought her out to the street after that," Cronk said.
He said when the names of the people inside the house were released, he knew all of them.
"They were my friends."
"I was in black smoke, so I couldn't really see as well. I came around the outside, I could hear the person at which window they were at," Cronk said.
Firefighters rescued the other woman trapped inside, but the three men died inside the house.
"The smoke was so heavy that they had to analyze which building it was in. There was so much smoke in the area. They quickly identified that, but that's a little bit of a challenge you don't usually see," Higgins said.
Higgins explained since a good portion of the house was boarded up, it presented its own unique challenges to firefighters.
"Fortunately, our people are trained in forceable entry, so they make light work of what might be much more difficult for other people and using the tools properly to make access to the building quickly," Higgins said.
Higgins said his team used thermal imaging cameras to find the people trapped inside the house.
These images below are examples of what firefighters can see when they get to a fire and locate a person inside. They used the system on Sunday morning.
"We are sorry for the loss of life that occurred. I am proud of our crews. They reacted as quickly as they could and gave the people the best chance they could have for a different outcome. Unfortunately, it was not yesterday," Higgins said.
Higgins told NEWS CENTER Maine that the firefighters who battled the fire Sunday morning were given a day off for their mental health.
"Our biggest asset is our people. We can have all kinds of shiny firetrucks, but our people are what's key to an operation like yesterday," Higgins said.
He said the firefighter union has a peer support team and other resources that can help firefighters at any point in time.
"We don't have fires like this every day, so this morning, for example, the crew had yesterday off that had the fire. They are back to work today. We monitor to see how they are doing and to make sure they know we are here for them," Higgins said.
Betters said his department continues to investigate the cause of the fire.
"We have a lot of people that we are trying to track down and talk with and try to establish a timeline of when people that were there got there and when others may have left," Betters said.
Bangor city officials declined to comment Monday about the ongoing plight of the city's homeless community.
In a statement to NEWS CENTER Maine, city officials said, "The City is saddened to have learned of this incident and express our sincere condolences to the friends and families of those who passed away. At this time, we have no further comment as we await the results of the investigation for more information."