ROCKLAND — A cooking fire in a Rockland apartment of 25 Suffolk Street, Sunday, June 23, just prior to 3:17 p.m., kept area firefighters busy for a couple of hours. Read the Fire Chief’s report of the incident:

The Knox County Regional Communications Center was notified of a fire in an apartment on Suffolk Street. Upon arrival of Lt. Cole and the rest of A-shift, they confirmed smoke showing from a first floor apartment.
Rockland Car 1 arrived shortly after with smoke showing from 2 sides of the building.

An 1 ¾ inch handline was stretched through the first floor apartment and into the kitchen. Crews applied approximately 200 gallons of water and extinguished the fire. Overhaul was conducted to make sure there was no fire
extension outside of the area of origin. The remaining three apartments were checked for occupants with everyone evacuated and accounted for.

Air monitoring found elevated carbon monoxide levels in the basement, as well as the three other apartments. The areas were cleared of any further smoke and CO before occupants were allowed back inside.

Any factors contributing to, or hindering the success of the operation:

Upon further investigation it is believed that the occupant of the apartment fell asleep while heating oil on the stovetop. Thankfully the smoke detectors in the apartment sounded and alerted him to the fire. A neighbor who was upstairs also heard the smoke detectors sounding and assisted the occupant outside.

With the fire being contained to the apartment, it is a true testament of our 24/7 staffed firehouse. Minutes matter and the potential to lose the entire building was diminished greatly due to the quick arrival of our firefighters.

Our mutual aid partners are always behind us and their assistance is invaluable to a safe and successful outcome.

First Unit/Arrival Time: Rockland Tower 3, Squad 3, Rescue1, Car 1,
Apparatus Assigned: Rockland Fire & EMS, Rockport FD and Camden FD
Number of Personnel: 28
Cause: Cooking fire

ROCKLAND — Sunday afternoon, June 23, Rockland firefighters and their mutual aid responded to a kitchen fire on the south side of the city. This was a return trip for firefighters, who extinguished a prior kitchen fire in the same 4-apartment home two or three years ago, according to a former owner.

This fire also happens to have occurred days after a medical emergency of one of the tenants, according to another tenant.

“I was in my apartment upstairs, finishing my gnosh and reading my book, when I heard a thud,” said a resident of the Suffolk Street house.

Her first thought, she said, was for the medical well-being of her neighbor. Then, however, she smelled the smoke.

A crew from Rockland’s A-shift, along with Camden, Rockport, and South Thomaston, arrived to find light gray smoke coming from multiple windows of apartment 1, on the ground floor of the 100-plus year-old building.

Acting in shifts, responders entered the structure to extinguish the primary fire and search for hot spots. 

Aside from smoke stains on the exterior walls around the doors and windows of the apartment, all damage was contained within the building.

This article will be updated as information becomes available.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com