Frisbee’s Market fire started by torch used to remove weeds

 

The Maine state fire marshal’s office has ruled that a torch being used to remove weeds from the parking lot around the Frisbee’s 1828 Market was the cause of the fire there Wednesday. Photo by Deb Cram/Seacoastonline

The Maine state fire marshal’s office has ruled that a torch being used to remove weeds from the parking lot around the Frisbee’s 1828 Market was the cause of the fire there Wednesday. Photo by Deb Cram/Seacoastonline

KITTERY POINT, Maine — The official cause of the fire at Frisbee’s 1828 Market was a “heat source too close to combustibles.”

That’s according to Sgt. Joel Davis of the state fire marshal’s office after an investigation, which is now complete.

“There was some weed removal going on with a torch, and it looked like the heat got too close to the building,” he said. There was some plastic hanging from underneath the boards of the store in the front corner, “and that’s probably what first ignited due to heat,” he said. “It was purely accidental.”

Davis said a paving company worker was using the torch.

The two-alarm blaze heavily damaged the front corner of the store, and there was smoke damage throughout the market that has operated in Kittery Point since 1828. While there was some damage to the upstairs apartment, it was not extensive, and the building structure remains intact. Phil Bouldry Jr., who bought Frisbee’s 1828 Market with his sister Tracey Olson last year, slept at the apartment last night.

By Brian Early
bearly@seacoastonline.com

July 21. 2016 5:58PM

for the rest of this story, click this link.