Most of the units in the building at 162 Narragansett Street were occupied when a 911 call came in at about 10:36 p.m. about a smoke alarm going off and the odor of smoke at the building. Two minutes later, three fire engines, two ladder trucks, heavy rescue, an ambulance and a RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) from Standish were dispatched along with Fire Department members on duty as well as eight live-in student firefighters.

Sgt. Michael Coffin arrived at 10:39 and found heavy smoke coming from a first floor unit in the two story, 13 unit apartment building. Occupants of the building reported a tenant was believed to be in the unit that was emanating smoke. Sgts. Coffin and Bruni opened the door of the fire unit and saw an adult male in imminent peril on the floor. Chief Fickett entered the unit and dragged the adult male to the door. As the fire continued to intensify, the man was moved further away from the building to await emergency medical care. He received life support level care while being taken to Maine Medical Center’s Level 1 Trauma Center, within 30 minutes of the initial call. He remains hospitalized.

Within two minutes of their arrival at 10:42 p.m., more than 165 gallons of water per minute was being applied to the fire. Firefighters went to each, by now smoke filled, apartment to check on tenants. A tenant in a second floor apartment who was nearly unresponsive was carried out of the building and transported to Maine Medical and remains hospitalized.

Because of the need for simultaneous fire suppression, as well as search and rescue, approximately 55 fire department members from Windham, Westbrook, Standish, Buxton, Scarborough, Saco and Gray responded to the scene. The building is currently uninhabitable. Due to the building’s age, a sprinkler system was not required. Working smoke detectors alerted residents to the fire and the Gorham firefighters responded within three minutes and took decisive action to deal with the fire and rescue residents.

Chief Fickett also noted that 8 out of 12 first responding Fire Department units were student firefighters who live in Gorham fire stations and had ” a significant impact on incident success” said Chief Fickett. Student firefighters responding to this emergency were Mark Halley, Nathan Libby, Jonathan Moreno, Benjamin Perrone, Samuel Schwarzhaupt, Ryan Shea, Jackson Small and Jacob Wilson.