UNION – The cause of a fire that damaged the interior of a Public Works garage in Union has been determined accidental.

Stormy weather on April 8 brought plow trucks back to the region’s roadways during the daytime hours. By late afternoon, the skies lightened, and Town vehicles began returning to quarters.

At 9 p.m., one of those plow trucks, a 2003 GMC, returned to the garage, where it was parked alongside three more of the Town’s five-plow truck fleet.

At approximately 9:45 p.m., Knox County Communications Center received a report of smoke coming from Union Town Garage, 1142 Heald Highway.

Inside the building, the GMC’s engine compartment had caught fire, according to Sgt. Joel Davis, of the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office.

The fire severely damaged the vehicle, rendering it useless.

Though only the one truck caught fire, other items were damaged by heat and smoke, according to Union Town Manager Jay Feyler.

The building sustained several hundred thousands of dollars in damages; the total amount and structural integrity has not been determined as of noon, April 10.

Union has insurance, and will be starting the claims process, according to Feyler.

As to how to proceed with Public Works –

“We are setting up a temporary office trailer and are working on getting our hand equipment and tools cleaned so we can start summer maintenance,” he said.

“Things change hourly, but the first step is to get our other trucks cleaned and safe to drive so we can actually get some work done.”

UNION — An investigator from the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office assessed damages to the interior of Union’s public works building, Tuesday, April 9, following a fire.

At 9:50 p.m., Monday, April 8, Union Fire Department and all mutual aid were called to 1142 Heald Highway for a reported structure fire.

Firefighters arrived to find smoke blocking the view of the building. No flames could be seen from the exterior. However, upon entering the building, fire personnel located an active fire within.

Crews from Warren, Appleton, Washington, Hope, and Waldoboro responded to the call. Many of whom staged nearby at Union Elementary School.

The last remaining units cleared the scene around 11:30 p.m.

The next morning – Tuesday – Union’s town manager posted the following to the Town’s Facebook page:

We had an unfortunate fire last night at the Public Works garage. A truck caught fire and was destroyed, that was bad but even worse there is hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to the garage.

First and foremost, please do not drive in and look, I will post pictures once we are allowed to enter the building and the Fire Marshals has cleared us.

Secondly, it is going to snow tonight and we are still assessing the damage to any other vehicle. Be careful roads may be a bit slipperier than normal.

This article will be updated as information becomes available.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com