Christmas gifts ruined by smoke, ash from sanctuary blaze
HOULTON, Maine — An early-morning fire Monday at the Houlton Salvation Army headquarters on Court Street caused minor damage to the sanctuary, but destroyed much of the group’s collection of toys.
Lt. Dominic Nicoll, who runs the Houlton branch with his wife Elizabeth, said Monday that he discovered the fire around 7:30 a.m. Monday when the couple awoke in their apartment located behind the 12 Court St. to a slight smell of smoke.
Nicoll said he first checked the apartment and then made his way into the sanctuary area of the building, where he discovered that a fire had broken out on a table used to display a nativity scene with candles. The fire is believed to have started by candles that were left unattended overnight, he said.
The sanctuary sustained extensive smoke damage, but amazingly the blaze did not spread beyond a table located in front of the staging area where the Christmas toys are kept.
“For it not to have caught the curtains and the whole room on fire is simply amazing,” Dominic Nicoll said. “I walked into the room and it was just a wall of smoke.”
Nicoll said he used a small fire extinguisher to douse the few burning embers that were left, but most of the fire had already burned itself out.
Because of the heavy smell of smoke, the Salvation Army closed its doors Monday and set up a temporary place at the Courtyard Cafe, located closeby. Officials were able to return to the building on Tuesday for business as usual.
Nicoll said while the event was unfortunate, it revealed to him a higher power was at work.
“Absolutely this was God at work,” he said. “The curtains were two feet away, but didn’t catch fire. It could have been a very different story for my wife, daughter and myself. We are very, very fortunate.”
Unfortunately, most of the Christmas gifts, including many toys that were not yet wrapped, were ruined by smoke, Nicoll said. On the positive side, many of the gifts the Salvation Army receives for Christmas had not yet been dropped off.
“We didn’t lose everything with the gifts as some are salvageable, but many are not,” he said. “Most of the toys we get tend to come in the last few weeks, so starting now until Christmas.”
Those wishing to assist the Salvation Army in replenishing the gifts they lost can contact Nicoll at 532-2322 or by email at Dominic.Nicoll@use.salvationarmy.org.
