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June 20, 2011

Brunswick building owner charged over fire

By The Mainebiz News Staff

The owner of a Brunswick building destroyed by a fire in April has been cited for violating two public safety rules.

Brunswick police summonsed Orville Ranger for criminal violation of the safety rule because the three-story building did not have a smoke detector system, according to The Times Record. Ranger was also charged with failure to provide more than one means of exit from the second floor of the building. The fire displaced 17 residents and five businesses, though no one was hurt, and damaged the building so heavily it had to be demolished. Electrical issues were the likely culprit, though an official cause was not determined.

The Brunswick Fire Department had been in contact with Ranger and his wife, Susan, since April 2008 regarding the building after an inspection revealed several violations, including the absence of a code-compliant fire alarm system. An October 2010 inspection performed following work on the building found an additional 13 violations. Ranger is scheduled to appear in district court in August, and, if convicted, faces up to six months in jail and $1,000 in fines, according to the paper.

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