Jefferson firefighters were paged out early Friday morning for a structure fire at Damariscotta Lake State Park. When they arrived they found the pavilion completely engulfed in flames.
Six of the eight picnic tables in the shelter were completely destroyed. It is believed the picnic tables were used to kindle the building fire. Four investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s office descended on the scene, including a dog specialist. The dog hit on undisclosed evidence that indicated the structure was deliberately set.
Park manager Kurt Shoener confirmed on scene that there were eight picnic tables in the shelter. After the fire was extinguished, there were only two tables standing. The insured value of the structure is $25,900 according to regional manager Mike Leighton. The structure’s cement pad also was heavily damaged.
Two other structures in town were also deliberately set on fire, but did not catch. A dugout at the Jefferson Village School’s baseball field received minimal damage, and the “gazebo” (historic band stand) on the Town Common received similar damage, according Fire Marshal Ken Grimes.
The bandstand was built 1910-1912 for Harry Morrill who started up a band in town. It was originally located at the intersection of the Valley Road and Rt. 126. When Rt. 126 was widened in the late 1930s it was moved to the fire tower property on Richardson Mountain. It was repaired and moved to the town commons in 1986.
Grimes said, “there is no suspect at this time. We are examining all three [fires] like they are connected. We have taken samples from all three scenes.”
Fire investigators do not have an exact time frame as to when the fires were set.
The fire at the State Park was paged out at 6:42 a.m. Jefferson Fire Chief Sheridan Bond said the dugout fire was discovered by a Little League coach as the team arrived for practice.
Firefighter and parent Wally Morris secured the scene and the Fire Marshal’s office was called to return to town. Jefferson firefighters then checked numerous unoccupied public buildings in the area and discovered the fire at the bandstand.
“The town office was fine, the school was fine,” Bond said of the results of their perimeter check. The floor of the bandstand has a circular burn mark on it.
“Both caught on fire and for some unknown reason, whether they were stomped out or whatever, the building did not ignite,” Bond said of the burned boards found at both the dugout and bandstand scenes. “They were intentionally set,” Bond said of all three fires.
Little League coach Jarrod Pinkham said he discovered the attempted fire in the dugout around noontime on Saturday when he arrived for practice. He said there were “three broken beer bottles” in the dugout. “It looked like they threw Molotov cocktails in there,” Pinkham said.
Anyone with information about the fires are urged to call the State Fire Marshal’s office at 626-3870 or call the Arson Hotline at 888-870-6162.
