Westbrook, ME – Sprinkler system keeps apartment fire from spreading

Crews are still investigating to find a cause of a fire in Westbrook. It happened on Bridge Street last Tuesday afternoon. Bridge Street is back open, and a few officials are on scene working with residents that are now displaced from the fire. Westbrook Fire Chief Andy Turcotte says they received the call of a fire outside of an apartment building. Chief Turcotte says it started on the second floor, making its way to the third-floor deck, and then extending to inside of the structure. Fortunately, all occupants made it out safely, and firefighters were able to knock it down fairly quickly.

Chief Turcotte says that’s all thanks to the sprinkler system inside the building that was able to get ahead of the fire before it spread any further. Fortunately, the weather was in our favor,” Turcotte said. β€œIt’s not -32, where we had issues with water freezing. And it was perfect day our staffing as perfect we had good neighboring response. And again, this was an example of how sprinklers worked in our favor.”

While there are no injuries, the chief says all residents in the building will be displaced for at least Tuesday night because of the water damage that made its way to the first floor. They’re working with Red Cross right now to make sure everyone has a place to stay. There is no word yet on the cause we’ll have more details as we receive them.