ROCKLAND – The smoke coming from the roof of Fisher Engineering could be seen from a distance, yet the fire that prompted a response from Rockland and its mutual aid departments had nothing to do with the blackness wafting in the breeze.

The part of the building seen from the Industrial Park driveway happened to have a smoke stack, which is used regularly to burn off the paint jobs done as part of the manufacturing of snow plow equipment.

In fact, all of the smoke exiting the facility after the fire was pushed out by the fire department’s HVAC unit.

Prior to the 9:35 a.m. dispatch that brought Rockland, Rockport, Camden, and one of two South Thomaston fire units to the Rockland Industrial Park facility at 50 Gordon Drive, a Fisher employee attempted to extinguish the sparks with a regular fire extinguisher.

That person was assessed for smoke inhalation, but declined any additional care. No other injuries were reported.

The fire started inside an air handler after grinding work was being done. Being in an air handler presented a bigger problem, according to Fire Chief Chris Whytock.

“That pushes smoke to different parts of the building, and you’ve got to figure out what’s burning and what isn’t,” he said. “We think a spark got into one of the filter pads in there and started that on fire. From there, it just kind of progressed down the line.”

Rockland responders and mutual aid used their own extinguishing devices to clear the flames and heavy smoke inside the structure.

“The problem with this building is that fires aren’t easy in here. You can’t just go in with water and put them out. There’s so much electricity. There’s so much sensitive materials that are in here that you really have to cautiously go in and figure out what’s going on first.”

While Rockland responders focused their attentions at the scene, another South Thomaston fire unit, along with a unit from Thomaston, covered the Rockland fire station for the estimated hour that Rockland was away. Meanwhile, while Camden was away in Rockland, Lincolnville stepped in to handle a fire alarm call on Bay View Street.

See our previous article: Larger problems averted as Fisher Engineering wall smolders

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com