GARDINER, Maine — Firefighters were at the scene of a major fire on Water Street in Gardiner on Thursday night.
The fire, which first was reported around 4:30 Thursday afternoon, tore through several buildings.
Sixteen-year-old Olivia Turner of West Gardiner was heading with her mom to dinner at a nearby Subway when they ran into a traffic “kerfuffle” because of the fire. An aspiring photojournalist, Turner took out her phone to record the action of firefighters working behind the burning buildings on Gardiner’s central Water Street.
“About 10 seconds after I took my phone out, the roof came down,” she said, describing the sound it made as like a “crack of thunder.”
Residents said the buildings in the area of 235 Water St. included apartments as well as businesses, including a pizza shop and a tattoo business. The owner of the tattoo business said he just opened up shop and lost thousands of dollars worth of equipment in the fire.
Witnesses told CBS 13 they heard people screaming and could smell smoke and burning plastic.
WMTW News 8 later reported that four people — a resident who suffered smoke inhalation and three firefighters with injuries that were not considered life threatening — were taken to the hospital for treatment. More information about the injured was not immediately available.
Water Street was blocked off and drivers were told to avoid the area.
BDN Director of News and Audience Anthony Ronzio contributed to this report.