Residents of a 24-unit Belfast apartment complex were displaced earlier this week after a fire set off a sprinkler system that caused water damage and flooding in the building.
The fire occurred Tuesday at the Penobscot Landing apartments at 75 Wight St., according to City Manager Erin Herbig. No one was injured.
Herbig shared that information in her memo to city councilors ahead of their meeting next week, when they’ll consider contributing to the relief effort with the city’s Keep the Faith Fund.
Belfast fire officials did not respond to a request for more information about the fire or the damage it caused.
One of the displaced residents, 62-year-old Anna Pendleton, was back at the complex on Friday, but said she will not be able to permanently return to her apartment. The building is still closed, according to a sign on its door, but tenants have been allowed to enter to get their possessions.
Pendleton has been staying at the Fireside Inn and Suites in Belfast but will soon move to another housing complex in the city, she said.
No damage was visible from the outside of the building on Friday. Pendleton said the fire may have started in the kitchen of one of the units on the upper floors and damaged lower units as well.
Pendleton said the initial alarm went off between 4:30 and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, around the time she had been eating dinner.
“We’ve had plenty of them go off, and they were all false alarms,” Pendleton said. “Everybody came out, but it was really a fire this time.”
