On Saturday, Oct. 4 at 2:28 a.m., Lincoln County Emergency Communications issued a mutual aid, 1st alarm fire call for a structure fire at a residence located at 79 Western Avenue in Boothbay Harbor, which is situated directly across from St. Andrews Urgent Care.    

Boothbay Harbor Fire Chief Nick Upham, who was first on the scene and arrived within minutes of the call, found the structured fully involved with fire showing from the first and second stories and penetrating through the roof.   

Chief Upham established fire command, and coordinated arriving fire crews arriving from Boothbay, Edgecomb and Southport Fire, positioning attack engines on Western Ave. Fire crews were fortunate in that unlike most structure fires occurring on the Boothbay peninsula where water must be shuttled to the scene by fire tankers, the three attack engines were able to receivewater directly from a fire hydrant, supporting five fire attack hose teams positioned in the front, rear and sidesof the structure.  

Due to the intensity and scope of the fire, fire crews established a defensive attack, spraying water from the exterior fire ground and directly into the structure. 

Boothbay Harbor Fire’s ladder truck, which was positioned directly in front of the structure, played an instrumental role in the fire attack, allowing firefighters to safely access hard to reach areas of the roof and attic, and to discharge large amounts of water directly into the attic and upper sections of the structure. 

While the fire was largely contained in 45 minutes, fire crews battled stubborn fires over the next two hours in the attic and rear sections of the structure, and due to the weakened structure had to work carefully around sections of the structure which could be prone to collapse.  

Boothbay Harbor Fire Chief Nick Upham noted “A fully involved structure fire is a serious event, and upon arriving on scene we realized this would require a highly coordinated and integrated attack on all sides of the structure. We had a great team effort from our firefighters from all four departments andsafely contained the fire from spreading to the woods and other structures in the area.” 

Twenty-six firefighters, working in teams in fire attack, pumper operations and traffic control and ten fire apparatus responded to the fire, and it was estimated that over 15,000 gallons of water were used to extinguish the fire. 

Boothbay Region Ambulance Services was on scene providing rehabilitation and medical support to fire crews, as was Boothbay Harbor Police. 

Chief Upham noted there were no injuries reported, and the state Fire Marshal was on the scene and the fire is currently under investigation. Fire crews remained on scene until 5:30 a.m. and then departed their four respective departments where they refueled the apparatus, cleaned and repacked hoses, refilled air packs and checked critical safety equipment.     

In a related event, Boothbay Harbor Fire and Boothbay Regional Ambulance responded to a call several hours after the structure fire for employees at a facility located near the fire to be checked for smoke exposure and to check their oxygen levels.