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Cause of fire at Bar Harbor's Bluenose Inn under investigation

Crews from at least a dozen departments responded to the call, some driving nearly two hours to help fight the fire.

BAR HARBOR, Maine — The State Fire Marshal's office is investigating a fire at Bar Harbor's Bluenose Inn. 

No injuries have been reported.

The call for the fire was received at 2:30 p.m., according to officials with the Bar Harbor Fire Department. Matt Bartlett, chief of the Bar Harbor Fire Dept., said when they first arrived on scene there was heavy, dark smoke coming from the basement of the building.

Flames were visible on a live Bar Harbor webcam that appeared to be in the area of the inn, as of 4:15 p.m. Crews were on the scene well into the night. 

Officials tell NEWS CENTER Maine at least a dozen local fire departments responded. Crews from as far away as Lincoln drove nearly two hours just to help fight the fire. 

Around 75% of the departments in Hancock County responded, according to a Facebook post from the Hancock Volunteer Fire Department. The post also says crews from Penobscot and Waldo counties helped fight the fire or covered other stations. 

"To have that kind of response is always reassuring and it just shows how as fire departments how well we work together. You know, you can drag crews from Old Town into Bar Harbor and we can all work and be on the same page and work as a team regardless if we only do it once every ten years," Chief Bartlett said.

The Bluenose Inn spans across two buildings, with around 100 rooms. The part of the building that burnt was the annex, and nobody was inside at the time, according to the Bar Harbor Fire Department. The inn had already been closed for the season.

A portion of the building is now left in ruins. 

The fire crews faced a number of challenges in putting out the fire. At first, they were lacking in crews and manpower. The hill the inn sits on also made for water supply issues. 

"We had crews actually pulling four-inch hose off of Eden Street up the hill over the back to get the hose, supply lines, into our trucks," Chief Bartlett said. 

Chief Bartlett said there is extensive fire, heat and water damage throughout the entire building. It is still unclear at this time if the building is a total loss. 

Members of the community stepped up to bring food and supplies to the firefighters as they continued working well into the night Thursday. 

Peter Nasberg, manager of the Bar Harbor Pat's Pizza, said they brought pizzas and waters. 

Chief Bartlett said people brought beverages, sandwiches, pizzas, and brownies for the men and women working hard to put out the fire.

The Silverman's, owners of the Lucerne Inn in Dedham, provided a staging area for fire crews responding to the call, giving them a warm place to sit and recharge, along with a hot cup of coffee.

"If we can't be hospitable to our civil servants and anything to do with the community then we probably shouldn't be in the hospitality business," David Silverman, owner of the Lucerne Inn, said.

Chief Bartlett said it's difficult to put into words what the support from the community during times like these means to them.

"It just reaffirms what a great community we're in," Chief Bartlett said. 

There is no word yet on what may have caused the fire. The state fire marshal's office is continuing to investigate. The Bar Harbor Fire Department confirmed the building did have sprinklers inside, but workers are still trying to determine whether or not they went off when the fire broke out. 

This story is developing. NEWS CENTER Maine will update when more details become available.

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