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Lightning does strike twice.
For the second time in two months, a fire damaged the Union Street, Bangor apartment of three University of Maine students.
Students Rani and Erin Gould and Anne Good were forced to evacuate after calling authorities in the early morning hours that Wednesday after hearing a loud explosion in their building.
Police and fire crews arrived at the building shortly, which was by then engulfed in flames of up to 30 feet, Bangor Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Rick Cheverie said. The fire was apparently fueled by two large propane tanks, four and a half feet tall and a foot in diameter, being held in the rear of the building, Cheverie said. According to investigators, the propane tanks were ignited when a foreign gas in the area was lit.
“Most likely, gas might have been in the area,” Cheverie said. However, the exact cause of the spark that may have lit the gas is unknown.
“[The cause of the spark] may never be determined,” Cheverie said. The building the students lived had three parts. The Goulds and Good lived in the front portion of the building, and there was a middle section connecting to a small rear area. When the tanks exploded, the rear area was totally destroyed and the middle section’s walls were blown out. Glass was thrown from the rear of the building over 150 feet. The front section was intact after the blast, but received severe fire and smoke damage, Cheverie said.
According to Cheverie, the building’s owner, John Kames of Bangor, was in violation of several housing codes and may face legal action for storing the tanks in the building illegally.
“We are exploring all issues at this time,” Cheverie said, referring to potentially pending litigation in this matter.
Since the fire, all three students have moved into a new apartment in Bangor. They were able to salvage some personal items from their Union Street apartment, including a computer, a television, a bed, and some kitchen supplies, Good said. Firefighters also were able to rescue Good’s cat and resuscitate her.
“That’s what I worried about the most,” Good said, referring to her cat.
For sisters Rani and Erin Gould, however, this recent string of fires is not their first experience with disaster. While in high school, the pair’s home was severely damaged by fire and had to be demolished and rebuilt, Erin said. The family lived in a trailer, paid for by their insurance company, while waiting for a new home to be built.
“Insurance covers everything when you need it,” Erin said. This past August, Erin moved into the Union Street apartment with sister Rani and Good. Then in February, an electrical fire struck the building and damaged it. The three were forced out of the apartment for three weeks and were extended housing in UMaine’s Knox Hall while their apartment was being repaired.
“[At] the second [fire], I was very emotional while it was happening. I thought I was going to loose everything,” Erin said. When this third fire struck their lives, both sisters were in shock, Erin said.
“This [third] time it was more of a numb feeling. We just had to stand by and watch the fireman do their job,” Erin said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Bangor FD and the State Fire Marshal’s office.
