A small fire that broke out in a woodworking shop in the Dana Warp Mill Thursday morning caused water damage to several businesses in the building.
While no one was hurt in the fire, the building’s fire alarms did not go off until firefighters manually tripped the alarms to evacuate the building.
Firefighters from both Westbrook and Gorham responded to the call because of the size of the mill, said Westbrook Fire Chief Gary Littlefield. The fire was extinguished about an hour after it was reported, but water from two sprinklers flooded the woodworking shop and at least two of the businesses on the floors below it.
Littlefield said the fire broke out in a small work area used by the company Knock on Woodworks to spray wood products with finishes. Workers from Knock on Woodworks reported the fire at around 9:30 a.m, said Littlefield. Direct damage from the fire was contained to a spray booth and a little of the floor, he said.
“Our most probable cause is a small buildup of flammable vapors ignited by static electricity,” Littlefield said.
Water damage was more extensive after two sprinklers sprayed water over the fire. Littlefield said the sprinklers gave “more water than needed” to put out the fire. He said besides the effects from the excess water, the damage was minor.
Todd Coffin of Mad Gabs Inc., a company located two floors below Knock on Woodworks, said they had water coming down through the ceiling. He said the water was black from the black painted walls of the Bakery Photographic Collective located directly over them.
Bakery Photographic Collective, which is located directly below Knock on Woodworks, had painted the walls black for lighting purposes, Coffin said.
Gabrielle Melchionda, owner of Mad Gabs, said through tears, that the floor of her space was covered in two inches of water and it looked as though “someone had the fire hose out and sprayed the whole place.” She said one of her chairs was soaked “like a sponge.”
Littlefield said while the fire in Knock on Woodworks activated the sprinklers, the fire alarms in the building weren’t activated. He said the sprinklers are activated by heat, which will not activate the fire alarms. He said the firefighters manually tripped the fire alarms when they reached the building.
Both Coffin and Tricia Boulet of Mad Gabs said they heard the fire trucks before they heard the alarms go off. Boulet said they looked out the window and saw firefighters climbing up the walls, then the alarm. She said they evacuated quickly and then went back into the building an hour later to see the water flooding the place.
Littlefield said firefighters entered the Knock on Woodworks space via a fire escape that snakes up the side of the building right up to one of the space’s windows, manually carrying a hose along with them.
Westbrook firefighters use the exterior fire escape stairs to reach a fire burning in the paint room of a Dana Warp Mill business.
Firefighters run hundreds of feet of hose from hydrants and tank trucks up the side of the mill.
Firefighters from Gorham clear a vent on the outside of the paint room using the long ladder of Tower 1.
Westbrook firefighters head to work at the Dana Warp Mill
With the situation inside the mill under control, firefighters work to open the vent.
Water vacuums are lugged up ladders to help drain the areas affected by fighting the fire.
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