PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Lajoie Electric & Control is continuing business operations at Grimme Spudnik in the Industrial Park after a fire destroyed the business building at 34 Industrial St. in February.
Lajoie had no plans to move and planned on taking over and expanding into the M & M Sheet Metal & Welding business when the owner retired later in the fall of 2023, said Peter Lajoie, owner of Lajoie Electric & Control.
He received the call about the fire on Industrial Street at around 1 p.m., and around 4:30 p.m. Lajoie and Presque Isle residents volunteered to move all of his supplies to the Industrial Park at 110 Airport Drive.
“We were quite humbled and blessed to have been able to move into this location so quickly during the fire,” Lajoie said.
Around 95 percent of his inventory was saved with items like circuit breaker panels, meter socket panels and his power tools and tool boxes to name a few.
“Some people saw a few people and they just decided to help out, because that’s what happens in Aroostook County. People just help people,” Lajoie said.
Neighbors and residents of Presque Isle helped Lajoie move his equipment and supplies out of his old building as the fire raged on the other end of the shared business building.
Lajoie remembers telling his working crew after the fire that they would be going into work on Monday morning the following week. The new location at the Grimme Spudnik building would be their new business location.
The city of Presque Isle was not involved with the leasing of Lajoie Electric in the new space.
Lajoie Electric has a lease for his new location at 110 Airport Drive until March 2024. Lajoie is weighing his options of possibly rebuilding at his previous location at Industrial Street, or staying at his new location in the Industrial Park.
“That was quite relieving to know that and it was relieving for my staff as well to know that they had a job on Monday morning,” Lajoie said.
Lajoie waited approximately three months to clean up the rest of the old workplace after a state fire marshal finished collecting evidence from the fire on May 2, he said. It was found to be accidental, although the fire marshal investigator could not pinpoint the exact cause.
Lajoie has been hiring a new electrician every year and currently has eight employees.
Lajoie Electric has grown tremendously with support from the community and Aroostook County, Lajoie said. He has been operating Lajoie Electric for the past nine and half years and plans on continuing to keep his business operating for the foreseeable future.
