Fire rips via historic waterfront of Portland, Maine, sinking a ship and destroying buildings | EUROtoday

A 3-alarm fireplace tore via the historic Old Port waterfront in Portland, Maine, on the day after Christmas, damaging buildings and sinking one boat.

Around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, ferry passengers seen flames on the Custom House Wharf, a pier that extends into the harbor and homes a number of companies, in keeping with a fireplace division information launch.

Within minutes, the primary emergency crews arrived on the scene, the place they encountered “significant smoke and fire” spreading via a number of business buildings. Additional items from close by cities, in addition to a fireboat, rapidly joined the response.

“Due to intense fire conditions, challenges with multiple additional exposures, access issues related to being on the wharf, and structural collapse of the building, crews were forced to eventually operate defensively,” officers mentioned.

Photos posted by the Portland Fire Department present buildings ablaze subsequent to tied-up boats and big plumes of smoke rising above town’s skyline. And a video posted by Portland Maine Old Port exhibits water being doused on a raging fireplace, which solid a crimson glow over the harbor.

The fireplace was deemed underneath management at about 7:20 p.m., almost two hours after firefighters rushed to the waterfront.

“Given the age of the structures and obviously, the potential of fire spread down here, everybody did a really great job to work really hard to stop the fire where we did,” Deputy Fire Chief John Hendricks mentioned throughout a press convention, in keeping with The Bangor Daily News.

A pair of firefighters suffered minor accidents that didn’t require hospitalization, and no members of the general public have been injured, officers mentioned. Several boats on the wharf have been broken because of the blaze and one vessel sank.

“The public is encouraged to use caution in the area as crews remain on scene attending to hotspots and due to possible icy conditions related to operations,” officers mentioned on Saturday.

It’s not clear what triggered the fireplace, which is presently underneath investigation by the Maine State Fire Marshall’s Office.

Multiple companies that function close to the wharf reacted to the blaze on social media.

“Praying everyone in the Old Port and area is safe right now,” The Thirsty Pig pub wrote in a Facebook publish.

The Porthole Restaurant, a seafood spot, mentioned in a publish on Saturday that it’ll stay open “regular hours if you need a familiar place to gather.”

“Our hearts are with everyone impacted by last night’s fire at Custom House Wharf,” the enterprise added. “We’re grateful for the first responders and for the safety of our neighbors.”