A fire that drew fire departments from 10 towns to the former William Smith Enterprises building at 147 Somerville Road in Jefferson on Thursday began in a cannabis growing facility that firefighters and town officials were not aware of, according to Jefferson Fire Chief Darin Walker.
“Those kinds of fires can be very dangerous,” Walker said.
A neighbor called 911 at about 12:20 p.m. Thursday to report smoke spilling from the warehouse’s ventilation system and the sound of crackling coming from within.
According to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss, the state fire marshal’s office determined the fire was accidental and started at a heat pump in the building.
The Lincoln County Regional Communications Center paged first responders from Jefferson, Nobleboro, Somerville, Waldoboro and Whitefield at about 12:22 p.m. Fire departments from Newcastle, Pittston, Chelsea, Windsor and Washington were later called to assist.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Maine State Fire Marshal and Waldoboro EMS also responded to the scene.
Walker said a liaison from the state had confirmed that “the individual that owned the [cannabis] plants was licensed.”
However, no permits had been pulled for a change-of-use at the site, so the town of Jefferson was unaware about the existence of the growing facility, he said.
The building was a former warehouse. The property is now owned by Santino Nappi, of Scarborough, according to property tax records. As property owner, Nappi would be responsible for filing for a change-of-use with the town, Walker said.
Nobody was injured in the blaze, but some firefighters were evaluated by medical personnel as a precaution after entering the building to fight the fire, Walker said.
Because the use of the building was not known to the town, firefighters entered the structure unaware of what the building was used for and what it could contain, Walker said. Typically, firefighters do not enter a cannabis growing facility when it is ablaze, because of the dangers posed by hazardous materials and explosive chemicals sometimes present at such facilities and the possibility of inhalation, according to Walker.
“At first, I had no idea what was in that building,” Walker said. “Finally, somebody came up to me that was affiliated with the building … it became clear that it was a marijuana grow. Once I knew that, I pulled everybody out.”
According to Walker, the fact that the town was unaware of the building’s use made the fire especially dangerous for first responders.
“Some of these grow facilities have chemicals, stuff that can explode, inside the buildings. They use propane, butane, all kinds of chemicals and fertilizers to process this stuff … but we, and the town of Jefferson, knew absolutely nothing about that facility at all,” he said.
After firefighters exited the building, they continued to battle the blaze from outside, utilizing the Waldoboro Fire Department’s ladder truck to reach the flaming roof of the three-story building.
The fire burned for hours and the scene was ultimately cleared at 5:30 p.m.
“Part of the roof burned off, and the makeshift room inside of the warehouse that was where the marijuana was, was destroyed,” Walker said.
Walker said first responders discovered two other “makeshift” growing rooms constructed within other wings of the warehouse.
Walker said that code violations at the scene meant that a fire was almost inevitable.
“It’s not if these types of things happen, it’s when,” he said.
