WINDHAM – Authorities are pointing to cigarettes as the likely cause of a fire that destroyed a four-unit apartment building off Route 302 in Windham early Wednesday morning.

According to Windham Deputy Fire Chief John Wescott, the fire at 20 Calla Way ignited at about 2:45 a.m. on the front porch of one of the units. No one was hurt in the fire, which damaged three of the four units in the building.

“We can’t rule out improper disposal of smoking materials on the front porch as the origin,” Wescott said, referring to cigarettes.

The fire brought out a massive response. One resident, Kristen Poole, whose family was awakened at about 3 a.m. by an unidentified neighbor knocking hard and yelling, “Get out,” estimated 25 fire or rescue apparatus were on scene.

Wescott said Windham responded with about a dozen tankers, engines and ladders, and other town’s lent mutual aid, including Gorham, Standish, Raymond and Westbrook. When firefighters arrived the building was totally engulfed, so they could only fight the fire from outside the building, Wescott said. He estimates the fire was under control about 15-30 minutes after crews arrived, with cleanup remaining until 7:30 a.m. to extinguish hotspots and clean up.

“There was nothing that hampered us. We had a great water supply. The crews did a great job on initial attack. We had a lot of fire but we were on it really quick,” Wescott said.

The four-unit building is one of a half-dozen condominium buildings on the dead-end Calla Way owned by Calla Way Condominiums LLC. Unit 20 was mostly destroyed, and two surrounding buildings also suffered some damage, though firefighters were able to prevent the nearby structures from igniting. No one was hurt or required medical care, Wescott added.

“I know everyone was knocking on everyone’s doors to make sure they got out safely,” Wescott said of the chaotic scene once the fire caught.

One of those neighbors, Kristen Poole a teacher in Otisfield who lives at 22 Calla Way with her husband, Joe, daughter and step-son. She described the early-morning fire as “terrifying,” since smoke was wafting into their complex.

“Somebody pounded on our door very urgently screaming, ‘Get out, get out,’ so my husband ran down the stairs and we opened the door and saw flames and smoke,” Poole said. “I have a little 9-month-old baby, so she was my first concern. My stepson, who is 16, we woke him up and came outside and we were outside before fire department came. It was pretty terrifying.”

Poole, who has lived there for almost five years, initially thought her building was on fire, since the flames were close and thick smoke obscured the view.

“I thought our place was going to go up,” she said. “When we came out it was total smoke. I didn’t want to open the door because all the smoke was starting to come inside.”

Poole, who didn’t go back to sleep after the ordeal, only had time to grab the keys to the family car and cover herself and family with blankets. Her husband moved the car to a far side of the condo complex and then stood with the family and some of their neighbors and watched crews fight the blaze from the safe distance.

“It happened so fast, and you think back and wonder, did that really just happen?” she said. “It’s scary. We’re very thankful everyone is OK.”

Residents fled a four-unit condominium on Calla Way, off Varney Mill Road in Windham, early Wednesday morning after fire swept through the building. (Staff photo by John Balentine)