Maine News Updates

HALLOWELL -- The fire that destroyed a vacant house, cutting off phone, cable and Internet service to thousands in central Maine earlier this week, was arson, a Maine State Fire Marshal’s office investigator said today.

Tuesday's early-morning fire at 2 Second St., near the Augusta-Hallowell city line, had an "intentional human element," senior investigator Scott Richardson said. Authorities have yet to make arrests.

"There's leads we're following up on, but these things take time," he said. "Any new information that anybody saw certainly helps."

Richardson asked that anyone who was in the area and might have witnessed suspicious activity at the time of the blaze call the fire marshal’s arson hotline at (888) 870-6162.

"We’re not finding anything in the area," he said.

Tuesday's fire, which was reported to police at 3:05 a.m., began inside the house it burned down, Richardson said. Samples investigators collected from the fire are undergoing tests at a state crime laboratory, he said.