WESTBROOK – Tuesday was a particularly busy day for local fire crews.

At about 10:30 a.m., firefighters in Westbrook were responding to a two-alarm structure fire at a condominium complex off Route 302, while at the same time, Scarborough and Windham firefighters, who were providing station coverage for Westbrook, responded to a burning car on Main Street in Westbrook.

Westbrook Public Safety Chief Michael Pardue said that the call for the condominium fire at the La Bella Villa Condos on Villa Road came in about 10:25 a.m. Pardue said Deputy Fire Chief Wayne Jones was less than a minute from the scene when the call came in and when he arrived, he saw that fire was showing on the outside of a wood-framed building that housed several condominium units.

Pardue said crews from Westbrook, as well as Portland, Falmouth and Gorham, quickly arrived at the blaze, and it was that quick response that prevented the fire from being worse than it was.

“We got great support from our mutual aid communities,” he said.

The fire impacted only one of the units in the building, Pardue said.

“It appears to be a total loss,” he added.

Everyone in the building, including all pets, got out safely, Pardue said, and there were no civilian injuries. Pardue added that one firefighter, Deputy Chief Gary Caron, suffered a broken ankle from a misstep at the scene.

Three people lived in the condo that was destroyed in the blaze. Pardue said the Trauma Intervention Program from Portland’s Community Counseling Center was working with the people displaced by the fire, and added that the residents had family close by, as well. All of the other units in the building were undamaged by the fire, and Pardue said he expected everyone else to be back in their homes by Tuesday evening.

Pardue said the cause of the fire is still under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

While Westbrook firefighters were busy with the condo fire on Route 302, the out-of-town crews worked to extinguish flames that quickly engulfed the engine compartment of a 2001 Dodge Neon on Main Street.

The car was situated in front of Bank of America and The Dancing Elephant restaurant, located at 855 Main St., near the intersection of Bridge Street.

There were two small explosions during the blaze, forcing onlookers to keep their distance. Traffic was diverted off a section of Main Street to nearby William Clarke Drive.

According to the vehicle’s owner, Felicia Jones of Portland, the car caught fire after she pressed on the accelerator just after pulling to the side of the road for a passing ambulance.

“When I went to get going again and pressed on the gas, it made sort of like a lurching and a noise and then I pulled over again, because when a car makes a noise you pull over,” Jones said.

“I thought I might have hit something, but when I pulled over, I put the car in park and flames came up near the windshield; it was that quick.”

Jones was driving alone to work at Peek-a-Boo Children’s Center in the Dana Warp Mill on Bridge Street. While she immediately fled the burning car, Jones realized she forgot to turn the car off and retrieve her keys.

“So I grabbed my bag and ran, and realized my car was still running and my keys were still in it and I need those to get in my house, so I actually had to go back in really quick and grab my keys. So I grabbed them and ran. And my first call was to police,” Jones said.

Jones was unhurt and has insurance on the car. A large plate-glass window at The Dancing Elephant cracked from the heat of the fire.

“I have absolutely no idea what caused it,” Jones said. “My boyfriend checked the oil a few days ago. It just all of a sudden went up.”

Crews remain at the scene of a fire Tuesday at La Bella Villa Condos on Villa Road. A unit that was home to three people was destroyed.   
Flames engulf the engine compartment of a 2001 Dodge Neon on Main Street Tuesday morning.