Maxwell’s Market is open after an equipment malfunction in the pizza oven caused a small fire in the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 26. (Abigail Adams photo)
Firefighters extinguished a fire in an oven at Maxwell’s Market on Gardiner Road in Wiscasset in the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 26, Wiscasset Fire Chief T.J. Merry said.
The fire was caused by a malfunction of the pizza oven, but it did not disrupt food service at the convenience store and pizza and sandwich takeout shop, owner George Humphrey said.
The fire was reported at about 2:40 a.m. by a delivery man dropping off doughnuts, Humphrey said.
The fire was contained to the pizza oven when the Wiscasset Fire Department arrived on scene, Merry said. The door was broken to gain entrance to the building and the fire was knocked down with the store’s fire extinguisher within seconds.
The fire was initially reported as a structure fire, and the Alna and Dresden fire departments were paged for mutual aid, but the mutual aid request was quickly canceled, Merry said. The pizza oven was surrounded by a brick wall, which prevented the fire from spreading.
The scene had been cleared before Humphrey arrived at the store, Humphrey said. The damage was minimal, he said.
Hot food service at the store was not disrupted due to the availability of an alternate oven, and Maxwell’s Market is open and operating as normal, Humphrey said.
