Cause of Waterville restaurant fire ruled accidental
Following "an exhaustive investigation" by the state Fire Marshal's Office, it was determined that the cause of a blaze that destroyed the Last Unicorn restaurant in Waterville on April 23 was accidental.
What hasn't been determined is whether the owners will rebuild the popular local eatery after a devastating and dangerous fire that broke out when oily rags spontaneously combusted.
Conditions quickly deteriorated after the Waterville Fire Department was called to 8 Silver St. just before 4 a.m., according to a press release on the department's Facebook page. With no visibility and high heat conditions in the building, the situation took a marked turn for the worse, according to the post.
"Given the rapid change in conditions and falling debris the crew became disoriented," the post said, and a mayday was initiated, declaring an emergency. A backup crew entered the building and all firefighters exited, three with minor burns.
Due to the volume of fire and the layout of Waterville's historic downtown, the decision was made by incident command to use an excavator to make sure the fire did not extend into the adjacent Silver Street Tavern or Cancun Restaurant. The front and rear of the building housing the Last Unicorn were removed for better access to the fire. At one point the blaze had begun to extend into the Cancun Restaurant, but firefighters were able to prevent it from spreading and there was only light smoke damage to the neighboring buildings.
According to the Waterville Fire-Rescue Facebook page, the state Fire Marshal's Office ruled later Sunday that the fire was an accident.
Several attempts to reach the owners, who were not identified in Sunday's post, were unsuccessful Wednesday. A message left for Waterville Fire Chief Shawn Essler was not returned by Mainebiz's deadline.
WFD and city officials have been working to make sure the area is clean, safe and secure, according to the department, and the building owner is working with the city to ensure a timely and safe clean-up effort.
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