GORHAM – Investigator Daniel Young Sr. of the State Fire Marshal’s Office said Friday the fire that damaged the Gorham House of Pizza building was the result of a malfunctioning ceiling fan and not an arson.

Young said the fire was caused by a fan on the second floor. He said a tenant had left the fan running 17 to 18 hours a day.

“It’s not a continuous use fan,” Young said.

Young said smoke alarms activated properly and everyone got out of the building.

Deputy Gorham Fire Chief Ken Fickett said the fire at the Gorham House of Pizza was totally unrelated to the recent arsons.

Young was to participate in a meeting in Gorham Friday afternoon as the investigation into the string of recent arsons in Gorham continues. Young said the public has been helpful.

“We’re getting a lot of calls of suspicious vehicles,” Young said.

Investigators were at the Gorham House of Pizza building Friday morning. Firefighters from surrounding communities helped Gorham battle the blaze Thursday evening in the three-story building at the corner of State and South streets.

Thursday night’s fire closed the village square to traffic. Gorham House of Pizza is located in the heart of the village where routes 25 and 114 intersect. Fire trucks remained at the scene this morning but commuter traffic flowed.

The fire dislodged several University of Southern Maine students living in second floor apartments above the restaurant. Mosher lived in one of the apartments with four other girls. “It started in an apartment next to ours,” Mosher, a Massachusetts native, said.

Kelly Mosher, a senior at the University of Southern Maine who lived in the building, who said there were three apartment units on the second floor, said the fire spread into the attic.

Following the recent string of fires in Gorham, Mosher’s first reaction was one of suspicion. “Oh God, it couldn’t be, could it,” she said at the scene. “Thankfully it wasn’t that.”

Mosher said the girls have a cat and were babysitting another small pet. “They got out safely,” Mosher said.

The fire drew a large throng that lined sidewalks in the darkened village where electrical power was cut off. Water ran down South Street.

Among a group gathered on a South Street sidewalk near a stone wall in the adjacent cemetery, Mosher watched as smoke poured from the building. Some onlookers for a better vantage point viewed the fire from inside the cemetery.

Reports said firefighters from Westbrook, Scarborough and South Portland were among responders to the blaze.

Investigators Friday morning were probing the fire at the Gorham House of Pizza building. In this photo, investigators are wearing surgical-type, purple gloves as they sift debris outside the building. (Photo by Robert Lowell)