Nine fire departments work to save
historic Blue Hill building
By FAITH DeAMBROSE
BLUE HILL—Smoke billowed from the roof of the historic Pendleton House as a full on structure fire
was being called in by members of the Blue Hill Fire Department at approximately 2:30 p.m., July 17.
Incidentally and perhaps luckily, a fire at the Pendleton House was something previously discussed by
area departments as part of ongoing training and an action plan had actually been developed in the hopes
that the day would never come, said Blue Hill Fire Chief Denny Robertson.
Robertson was one of an estimated 50 to 60 firefighters who arrived at the scene to put the plan into
action. Firefighters from Deer Isle, Sedgwick, Surry, Brooklin, Brooksville, Penobscot, Orland and
Ellsworth joined Blue Hill.
At least a dozen fire trucks filled the roadways, blocking off Water Street completely to traffic and
causing delays to the surrounding roadways on streets such as Union and Pleasant. Hospital traffic was
rerouted to Parker Point Road; Communication was successfully achieved through the departments’ radio
system. Crowds gathered in the streets to watch and ask questions. Firefighters not dressed in turnout gear
helped to direct traffic through downtown Blue Hill and answer questions.
In front of the building a ladder truck from the Ellsworth Fire Department was positioned at the corner
opposite to the side of fire in the event that the fire engulfed the entire building. According to Robertson the
close proximity of the Pendleton House to surrounding buildings, including the Holt House, was “of great
concern” to the departments. “Heat rises,” he said and added that since the building is on a hill that the fire
could have potentially spread up the hill and into downtown.
“A woman, whose name was not given, called in the fire, said it started in her window sill and that she
tried to put it out,” said Robertson, referring to a tenant on the fourth floor where the fire appeared, at least
initially, to have begun. The tenant was unsuccessful in her endeavor.
The firefighters immediately entered the building dragging a hose up four flights of stairs (water being
pumped from the firepond) to the top floor where they were able to eventually contain the fire from within
the building using a minimal amount of water. More than a dozen bright blue tarps were used by the
departments to protect private property and to channel water from the building to the outside. According to
members of various departments, firefighters are trained to protect personal property whenever practical.
One truck was used to pump water from the pond into the building, and was located just outside the front
door. Firefighters donning full turnout gear made their way in teams into the building and each stayed until
their air tanks expired, approximately 25-30 minutes before being relieved by another team. Upon exiting
the building the department members were ushered into various spots for rest.
A large plate glass window on the third floor was broken by the department, said Robertson, because
when heated the glass experiences stress fractures, which could cause the glass to shatter and later fall on its
own, causing a much larger safety issue.
The following day, July 18, a determination had been made by Scott Richardson, from the Maine Fire
Marshal’s office—accidental electrical fire. A tour of the building led by Robertson and other members of
the department showed the path of the fire. A loose wire in a circuit breaker panel on the third floor was
culprit. The short circuit traveled through wires across the ceiling of the third floor apartment and into the
wall of the fourth floor apartment, connecting with an electrical outlet located below a window.
The wall where the electrical outlet was compromised was filled with hay left by nesting birds, and was
just enough fuel to ignite a fire.
The building is under the control of the Blue Hill Fire Department at press time and Robertson is working
with an insurance adjuster representing the owner, Ken Bass of Brooklin, as well as with a cleaning
company that will begin remediation as soon as possible. “The follow up problem will be mold if the water
is not taken out quickly,” said Robertson.
In the Pendleton House there are six dwelling units and three commercial spaces. All residents were
evacuated Monday evening and Robertson contacted the American Red Cross in the event that residents
needed help finding a place to stay.
The fire was under control within two hours. Most of the mutual aid firefighters and equipment cleared
the scene by early evening. The Blue Hill Fire Department positioned members at the building throughout
the night to ensure the safety of the building and its contents. It is not clear when the building’s occupants
will be able to move back in to the building.
The Pantry Restaurant, owned by Debbie Dyer, was allowed to open its doors on Tuesday to customers as
the unit experienced no damage and has an outside entrance.
The third and fourth floor apartments are severely damaged. On the fourth floor all ceilings have been
removed and the apartment in which the fire occurred is completely gutted. Water damage is apparent on
the fourth floor, but due to the precautions taken by the firefighters water damage was minimal on lower
floors. Cellulose insulation, which is comprised of newspaper treated with a chemical to keep the material
from catching fire, smoldered as it is intended to do, turned to ash and covered almost everything on the
third and fourth floor, as well as the hallways and most of the grass outside the building. “It looked like it
was snowing in July,” said Fire Chief David Carter of Sedgwick the day following the fire.
A bit of history
The Pendleton House has an extremely rich history and is considered to be one of Blue Hill’s tallest
structures.
The building was built in the 1830s to only three stories by Jeremiah Thorndike Holt and brother Jonah
Holt for retail space. (If you look at the building’s front façade the letters JTH are fixed to the brick.)
Jeremiah was one of Blue Hill’s first postmasters and operated the town’s post office from the building.
Jonah operated a ship chandlery.
In the 1880s a man by the name of Pendleton renovated the building, turning it into a hotel during the
area’s mining boom. The original gable roof was replaced with a mansard roof to allow for a fourth floor.
Judge Chase, father of Maine novelist Mary Ellen Chase, also ran the building as a hotel and it is believed
that Mary Ellen lived in the building at one time.
In the early 1920s the Piper family purchased the building from Judge Chase and operated a livery stable
where Emerson Antiques is now located. The building once had two porches that extended across the
second and third floors. These porches were removed by Piper.