Pre-Dawn Fire Forces Tenants From Limestone Apartment House

Firefighters and emergency personnel responded to a fire at a multi-unit apartment house near the post office on Main Street in Limestone early Thursday.

The Limestone Volunteer Fire Department and Limestone Police were called to the fire at 23 Main Street around 3:15 a.m.

The Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency said 22 residents had to be evacuated and an emergency warming shelter was set up while fire crews worked quickly to contain the blaze.

The majority of the fire damage was confined to one unit on the first floor.  There was also smoke and water damage throughout the building.

Tenants in the front of the building were allowed back inside their apartments to retrieve some of their belongings shortly after the blaze was extinguished.

State Fire Marshal Investigator Tim Lowell is working to determine the cause of the fire.  The Limestone Police Department said there was some indication that it may have been deliberately set.

The local chapter of the American Red Cross is helping people who were displaced by the fire.  If you would like to help with donations of clothes, food or other items, please contact Joyce Knorr at the American Red Cross office in Caribou at 493-4620.

The apartment house is located about 3/4 of a mile from the Limestone fire station. The Fort Fairfield Fire Department and Caribou Police Department also responded to the emergency early Thursday morning.