On Saturday, Sept. 7, a stovetop fire in Building 11 of the Orchard Trails apartment complex resulted in four tenants losing their home and eight tenants living with severe water damage.

At approximately 7:15 p.m., emergency services were called to Orchard Trails in Orono after smoke in the apartment triggered the sprinkler and alarm systems. The small fire was quickly doused by the building’s sprinkler system.

According to Captain Joel Sides of the Orono Fire Department, the fire was caused by cooking oil being heated on the stovetop. “A friend of the tenants was heating cooking oil on the stovetop and it ignited,” Sides said.

A full building evacuation was put into effect and the tenants of the apartment in question are now living in rooms at the University Inn. Eight other tenants in the building — below and beside the source of the fire — experienced water damage to their apartments as a result of the sprinkler system going off.