Late morning fire at Blaze restaurant shuts down Camden’s Bay View Landing
(Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
Initially, flames were spotted breaking through the chimney. (Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
(Photo courtesy CAYSP staff)
Changing air tanks on firefighters entering the smoke-filled building. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo courtesy Sarah Ruef-Lindquist)
Inside Blaze restaurant after the fire is extinguished, firefighters investigate the extent of the damage. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
(Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
(Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
(Photo courtesy Alex Seitz-Wald)
(Photo courtesy Etienne Perret)
(Photo courtesy Etienne Perret)
(Photo courtesy Etienne Perret)
(Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
Initially, flames were spotted breaking through the chimney. (Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
(Photo courtesy CAYSP staff)
Changing air tanks on firefighters entering the smoke-filled building. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo courtesy Sarah Ruef-Lindquist)
Inside Blaze restaurant after the fire is extinguished, firefighters investigate the extent of the damage. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)
(Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
(Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
(Photo courtesy Ralph Eriksson)
(Photo courtesy Alex Seitz-Wald)
(Photo courtesy Etienne Perret)
(Photo courtesy Etienne Perret)
(Photo courtesy Etienne Perret)
CAMDEN — Just as employees were opening Blaze restaurant in Camden for Tuesday lunch, a fire in the kitchen broke out, creeping into a wall and up through the second floor of the two-story Bay View Landing building, home to a retail shop, Fresh restaurant and an apartment.
This was the third fire at Blaze restaurant in just one year. The restaurant’s menu features wood-fired dishes and pizza, and operates with two chimneys.
Today’s fire was called in at 11:20 a.m. by numerous witnesses visiting or working on a busy summer day in the seaside tourist town. They caught sight of smoke and flames spewing from one of the restaurant’s chimneys and alerted Knox Regional Communications Center, which in turn, put out a mutual aid alarm to Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, Rockland and Rockport fire departments.
Camden and Rockport firefighters made their down the narrow Bay View Street and entered the smoke-filled restaurant with hoses, dousing the dining and kitchen areas with water and pulling down sheetrock to determine the extent of the fire.
Meanwhile, onlookers lined the sides of sidewalks, and those inside the buildings were evacuated.
Outside, Camden’s ladder truck was positioned to provide firefighters access over the roof, where they quenched flames and any flammable materials rising from the chimney and landing on shingles.
Bay View Landing, side by side with Willey Wharf and perpendicular to nearby Bay View Street, is a tight configuration of old and newer wooden structures, some remodeled over the years. Firewalls have been constructed between the buildings but the concern always runs high for the chance of fire spreading along a waterfront lined with stick-built structures that date back a century or more.
In addition to Camden and Rockport firefighters, crews from Hope, Lincolnville and Rockland arrived at the scene to assist.
Firefighters remained at the scene through the afternoon, with the parking lot taped off from pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Meanwhile, the investigation into the fire’s origin continued.
