Woman’s 911 call was key in response to New Gloucester store fire
Sarenna Collins, left, whose phone call saved Link's Variety in New Gloucester from total destruction, stands with Link's Variety Manager Ashley Roberts. (Courtesy of Ashley Roberts)
Sarenna Collins was driving through New Gloucester in the early hours of Oct. 11 when she saw a place near and dear to her heart on fire. Collins, who was driving with her mother on the way back from visiting a friend in Auburn, saw what looked like fog coming from Link’s Variety.
When Collins pulled up, she found smoke pouring out of the building and obscuring the area, and could see red in the back window of the kitchen. Worried that the fire would reach the gas pumps or propane tanks near the building, she immediately called 911.
Collins said she stayed at the scene while the fire was being extinguished, and watched as 12 fire trucks, from departments including Gray, Auburn, Raymond, Durham, Yarmouth and North Yarmouth, arrived to put out the blaze. Collins stayed until she asked the firefighters if she was allowed to take her mother, who has cancer, home.
Ashley Roberts, a manager at Link’s Variety, said the fire department told her that had they gotten the call just five or 10 minutes after they did, the store would have been completely engulfed in flames. Roberts said that while the store is not completely unsalvageable, the interior was significantly damaged, and she estimated it would take at least six months to get the store to a state where it can reopen.
Collins said Link’s Variety was a major part of her life. She said that whenever she was feeling down she would go to Link’s to get pizza and talk with the staff, all of whom knew her name.
Since the fire, Collins has stayed in contact with the owners. The morning after the fire, she drove back and spoke to them, and they were “very thankful” for her actions the previous night, she said, and even offered her a job once the store reopens.
“It’s (like) home,” said Collins, “and it really broke my heart it the way (that) it was. I don’t really care about recognition or anything like that, I just care that it can be saved.”
The Office of the Fire Marshal said on Oct. 19 that the cause of the blaze was still undetermined, though a press release in the immediate aftermath of the fire speculated it originated “in or around the furnace area.”
Copy the Story Link
Tagged: Maine State Fire Marshal
Rory, an experienced reporter from western Massachusetts, joined the Maine Trust for Local News in October 2024. He is a community reporter for Windham, Raymond, Casco, Bridgton, Naples, Standish, Gray,. More by Rory Sweeting
