By Dominik Lobkowicz
Waldoboro Fire Chief Paul Smeltzer (left) speaks into his radio as firefighters work to extinguish a fire at Pinkham’s Auto Repair & Tires on Route 1 in Waldoboro. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
The DNA identification of a man whose remains were found in the basement of Pinkham’s Auto Repair & Tires in Waldoboro after a fire April 24 is underway at the Maine State
Police Crime Laboratory and results are not anticipated until April 30 or May 1, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.
Jeff Pinkham, the owner of the business, remains missing as of April 29, McCausland said. Pinkham’s truck was parked inside the garage at the time of the fire,
according to a press release from the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
McCausland told The Lincoln County News April 29 he anticipates the results of the fire investigation to be released simultaneously with the man’s identity.
The Waldoboro Fire Department was paged out to a structure fire at the garage at 5:07 a.m. April 24.
According to Waldoboro Fire Chief Paul Smeltzer, heavy, black smoke was showing when he first arrived at the scene at 1376 Atlantic Highway.
“The fire was initially hard to knock down because it was in the [work] pit below a cement floor,” Smeltzer said.
A number of area fire departments worked to contain the fire as the blaze damaged the building and the GMC Sierra pickup parked inside it.
Smeltzer confirmed just before noon April 24 that a body was found in the building.
Recovery of the remains from the basement and the investigators’ work were delayed due to a cave-in of the building’s floor and the need to have contaminants pumped
out of the basement, officials said.
By around 4 p.m., the remains had been removed and an excavator was being used to tear down the structure.
Firefighters pull sheets of siding off the front of Pinkham’s Auto Repair & Tires, exposing the flames behind. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
The remains were taken the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta for an autopsy and identification, according to the release from the fire marshal’s office.
The pickup parked over the pit received significant smoke and heat damage from the blaze, Smeltzer said. “I’m sure it’s totaled,” he said.
The fire spread up the side of the building into the office, and up into the roof, Smeltzer said.
Firefighters peeled sheets of siding off the building in their attempts to get at lingering flames.
The Waldoboro, Bremen, Jefferson, Nobleboro, Warren, and Washington fire departments responded to the fire, along with Waldoboro Emergency Medical Services. The
Bristol Fire Department provided station coverage for Bremen and the Somerville Fire Department stood by at its station to provide coverage for Jefferson.