PORTLAND, Maine — Portland Fire Chief Jerome LaMoria said Wednesday that fire alarms were disabled and exits were blocked at the Noyes Street residence where a Nov. 1 blaze claimed the lives of six people.
LaMoria said the results of an investigation into the fire, Maine’s deadliest in four decades, will be forwarded to the Cumberland County district attorney’s office for review.
The fire chief announced the official cause of the blaze for the first time late Wednesday morning in a news conference at City Hall, confirming previous news reports that the fire was accidental, caused by improperly discarded smoking materials.
He said cigarettes were thrown away in a smoking receptacle on the building’s cluttered, wooden front porch, “next to combustibles like recycling and furniture.”
The fire chief said that “questions about the uses of this building” led to the need for the district attorney to decide whether any charges should be filed in the case.
“The loss of life was further [exacerbated] by blocked exits and a lack of working smoke detectors,” LaMoria said. “Although this cause is not criminal in nature, the full report has been forwarded to the district attorney’s office for review.”
The 20-24 Noyes St. building was the subject of 16 complaints by neighbors going back to 2003, including some about buildups of trash and combustibles at the property, and another about the alleged use of third floor space as a makeshift third living unit in what was recognized by the city as a two-unit dwelling.
State Fire Marshal Joseph Thomas, whose agency led the investigation, said human behavior — however unintentional — was to blame for the tragedy. He said the acts of smoking too close to the building, leaving a front door open — which allowed the quicker spread of the fire indoors — and disabling smoke detectors all contributed to the outcome.
Ashley Summers, wife of 29-year-old fire victim Steven Summers, said she hopes the investigators’ findings will serve as a warning to landlords and tenants across the state to be vigilant about keeping working smoke detectors and cleared exits.
“Still, at the end of the day, I don’t have Steven,” she said. “I really don’t have a reason my little girls will understand. People don’t understand. We’re going through this now as adults, but as the kids get older in a few years, we’ll have to go through it again and again and again.
“I wasn’t at the fire,” Ashley Summers continued. “But every night I dream about this fire. I think about what I could have done every which way.”
Summers, represented by attorney Thomas Hallett, is one of three parties to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against 20-24 Noyes St. landlord Gregory Nisbet. Among the complainants’ chief arguments against Nisbet are that the smoke detectors were not maintained at the site.
“My kids don’t have a dad now,” she said. “It’s beyond heartbreaking for the families, including my own. Something needs to be done, not just in the city of Portland, but across the state of Maine.”
Summers said an effort is underway to fund a memorial to the six fire victims in Longfellow Park, near where the blaze occurred.
The fire also claimed the lives of tenants David Bragdon Jr., 27, Ashley Thomas, 29, and Nicole Finlay, 26, as well as apartment visitors Christopher Conlee, 25, of Portland, and Topsham resident Maelisha Jackson, 26.
In addition to the state fire marshal’s report, a report by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will be finalized and released at some point, Thomas said Wednesday.
State and local investigators sought help from the federal agency and its state-of-the-art laboratory during their investigation. Thomas said information from the ATF study supported the state’s findings, but a full report by the federal investigators has not yet been issued.
LaMoria declined to elaborate on how many or which exits in the building were blocked, nor in what way they were blocked, saying the investigation results are in the district attorney’s hands for review.
“[Today’s announcement] confirmed what was expected from the beginning,” Hallett told reporters. “I think [the district attorney’s office] needs to take a real hard look at this.”