Electric scooter eyed in Blue Hill fire that displaces local workers
By Tricia Thomas
BLUE HILL—A house fire near the Mountain Road caused “significant” damage and displaced two tenants on September 29, fire officials reported. No injuries were reported.
Blue Hill fire captain Stefan Blanchard, who was first on the scene and functioned as incident commander, said the department was called out at about 8:45 p.m. to a reported fire at 20 Billingsfield Lane, off of Mountain Road. When firefighters arrived, the first floor of the home was engulfed in flames and fire was beginning to penetrate the second floor.
“We had it knocked down within 30 minutes,” Blanchard said. Firefighters then spent another hour performing “overhaul,” by looking for signs of fire in ceilings, walls and other spots to make sure the fire was contained. “We were clear of the scene by just after 11 p.m.,” Blanchard added.
The fire was called in by the home’s tenants, two unnamed men who were able to get out of the house safely, Blanchard said.
“The structure is still intact, but there is significant damage from the fire,” Blanchard said.
Although the cause is still under investigation, the fire may have started when a lithium ion battery used to charge an electric kick scooter caught fire, Blanchard said. It is unclear whether either tenant owned the scooter, or whether it was plugged in and charging at the time, he added.
The two displaced men, who reportedly work at Hannaford on South Street, have been provided with temporary housing. Blanchard could not identify the owner of the home, listed on town tax documents as Jonathan Curtis, but said that a representative of the homeowner was present at the fire scene.
Firefighters from Brooklin, Penobscot, Sedgwick and Surry also responded to assist, Blanchard said, with more than 30 total volunteers on-site. The Peninsula Ambulance Corps also was on hand.
While Blanchard stressed that the exact cause of the blaze has not been determined, he advised local residents to exercise caution when using rechargeable batteries inside.
“People should be careful with charging or storing lithium ion batteries inside a house. It’s hard to say that, because we know that everything has lithium batteries in it, such as computers and phones, but we’d advise people to be mindful, especially when charging large lithium batteries,” he said.
