FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — A kitchen fire on Sunday in Fort Fairfield left a resident injured and displaced.
The Fort Fairfield Fire Department received a report of smoke coming out of an apartment at 1 Fields Lane — which is part of a Fort Fairfield Housing Authority complex — around 4 p.m.
Responding authorities found the apartment’s single occupant outside the apartment with burns to their arms and hands. The Presque Isle Fire/Ambulance treated the resident, who was released at the scene.
The occupant had put the fire out by the time firefighters arrived. While the resident put out the fire quickly, the quick actions did not prevent substantial smoke damage. The Fort Fairfield Department spent an hour ventilating the apartment.
The fire started after the apartment’s occupant accidentally left food on the stove, which caught fire, Deputy Chief Tim Browning said.
Smoke damage to the apartment made the home uninhabitable until the Fort Fairfield Housing Authority repaired it. The fire department reached out to the American Red Cross of Northern New England, which assisted the person with temporary housing.
In a statement, the Red Cross said it was ensuring that the individual hurt by the fire had a safe place to sleep and the immediate needs — such as access to food — were met.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, cooking fires were the most common reported home fires from 2012-2016. There were an estimated 172,000 cooking fires per year during that period. The Fort Fairfield Fire Department used the incident to raise awareness of potential causes of kitchen fires.
“I want to remind our community members to never leave a cook stove unattended and, when finished cooking, always ensure the stove is off,” Browning said.
