AUBURN, Maine — An overnight fire destroyed an apartment building that was under construction in Auburn.
The Auburn Fire Department responded to 138 Mount Auburn Ave. shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday. This site held two four-story apartment buildings under active construction, each with approximately 80 living units.
Firefighters arrived within three minutes to find heavy fire on all four floors of the east building, the fire department said Monday in a press release. A second alarm was immediately struck to call for additional mutual aid resources. Firefighters from Auburn and Lewiston deployed in defensive positions with water devices and were able to prevent the fire from extending to the west building. The fire went to a fourth alarm, according to officials.
The city of Auburn's planning and permitting director Eric Cousens said because the building was still under construction, there wasn't a sprinkler system available to contain the flames.
Flying debris started multiple spot fires on the ground at surrounding properties, the fire department said. Officials monitored commercial structures at adjacent properties and said no other buildings caught fire. No injuries have been reported at this time, according to the fire department.
Community members like Jeffrey Sirois, who was in the area around the time the fire broke out, said he could do nothing more than watch.
"This place was burning right to the ground. Just flames blaring flames," Sirois said. "I called my friend Dustin, and we sat in the parking lot, just right over here, and we just watched it. We were here until 1 am just watching the flames go up."
A total of 12 departments and more than 100 first responders either responded directly to the scene or provided coverage support for Auburn, the release stated.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal will lead the investigation into the cause of the fire.
Despite the uncertainty of what caused the fire, Cousens said the site is regularly secured.
"I don't know if there's private security on that site, but by secured, what I mean is that the doors and windows are locked latched or boarded over if they're not capable of being latched," Cousens said.
A lot of time, money, and planning goes into large developments like this one. Cousens said the 52-unit apartment building that was destroyed was expected to be completed by January or February of next year.
The 50-unit building that still stands was originally expected to be ready by November.
"It's pretty disappointing that these are gone," Cousens said. "It's hard enough to get a project approved to get the financing approved; to find the right site. And for someone to make the decision to make that investment, it's very disappointing once they've made that decision to see something like this happen."
It's unclear whether renters were already lined up to move into the units that were destroyed.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to the developers but has not heard back.
Cousens said the housing project was estimated at more than $15 million.
Auburn fire officials shared a post on their Facebook page around 1 p.m. informing that Mount Auburn Avenue reopened.
Officials said Monday morning that Mount Auburn Avenue would be closed from BJ’s to Gracelawn Road until further notice. Officials said most local businesses would be accessible but encouraged drivers to seek other routes if possible.
Officials said public safety and traffic updates would be posted to the Auburn Fire Department and Auburn Police Department Facebook pages as they become available.