By ELIZABETH COMEAU
Staff Writer Monday, February 26, 2007

enlarge Staff photo Andy Molloy

Scott Richardson, left, and Sgt. Ken Grimes of the State Fire Marshals Office examine the outside of the Slates restaurant building Monday morning after a devastating blaze in the historical Hallowell landmark Sunday. Investigators were hoping to determine a cause for the fire that destroyed the business and severely damaged the building.

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"It's like the town has had a heart attack," said Bruce Mayo, who's lived and worked in Hallowell for nearly 20 years.

Fire crews from Hallowell, Augusta, Manchester, Gardiner, Farmingdale, Randolph and Togus responded to the fire, which firefighters believed started on the second floor of the building and spread to the third floor. The building is owned by Hallowell resident Robert Stubbs.

The fire displaced five tenants, four of whom found temporary housing, Stubbs said.

Slates has been a central Maine institution for nearly 30 years. The cause of the blaze was still being investigated.

By late Sunday evening, the fire was still glowing out of parts of the roof, prompting Hallowell Fire Chief Mike Grant to recommend the right half of the building be demolished.

He called that half of the building a total loss, saying that the floors over the Slates kitchen collapsed and the restaurant was severely damaged by water and smoke.

"We're to a point where the corner of the building is so unsafe it needs to be knocked in," Grant said.

Around 8 p.m., Steve McGee construction rolled onto Water Street with a large CAT wrecker. The driver lifted the crane toward the top floor of the building, then lowered it back down toward the ground.

Two Hallowell firefighters unscrewed the 1804 plaque on the building and then a team of firefighters removed the purple and yellow Slates awning.

Onlookers cheered, applauded and shouted thank-yous to the firefighters for saving the sign.

By 8:11 p.m., the CAT's teeth peeled away the shell of the building and the first of the bricks and mortar fell in a fiery descent.

The left side of the building, which remained undamaged because of a fire wall, would be re-evaluated for safety this morning, Grant said.

"When I heard the news, I just said to myself, 'Oh, my god,'" said Stubbs, a lifelong resident of Hallowell. "It was like watching a part of your life just go right down the tubes. It was definitely the oldest brick building in Hallowell and for all I know may have been in central Maine."

No one was hurt in the blaze, said Hallowell Deputy Fire Chief Sean Goodwin, although one Augusta firefighter and one Hallowell firefighter suffered from heat exhaustion and a twisted ankle.

"The patrons got out and everyone else got out," Goodwin said.

Much of downtown Hallowell was blocked off Sunday afternoon and evening, with Augusta and Hallowell police diverting traffic up Second Street and down Temple Street.

Blackened bricks and smashed top-floor windows were visible from the street.

The upper floors of the building likely suffered extensive damage, firefighters said.

Wendy Larson, owner of Slates for 27 years, said the fire was just awful. "I'm very grateful that no one was hurt," Larson said, tears in her eyes as she watched from the parking lot behind the building.

At 1:30 p.m., flames were pouring out of an upstairs back window, while people on the front side of the building could see tables neatly set with linens inside the restaurant.

As firefighters continued to extinguish the blaze, the sound of shattering glass could be heard as water shook loose fragments from windows firefighters had to break.

As the fire burned, the old, red bricks slowly turned dark black with soot and began to crumble near the roof line at the back of the building.

At 2:13 p.m., firefighters began to hack into the roof with chainsaws from a ladder positioned at the front and back of the building.

At the same time, foam and water were sprayed into windows still spewing smoke.

Although much of the damage to the two apartments could be seen through the blackened windows of the building's upper floors, on the streets people wondered what would happen to their beloved restaurant.

At least 100 people armed with cameras and cell phones gathered on Water Street to watch as the 1804 building burned, while television news crews jockeyed for position on a cobblestone sidewalk across the street.

Christine McDonald, a Hallowell resident, was about to begin her meal at Slates when she smelled a strange odor from her seat near the front of the restaurant.

"It smelled like a burning coffee pot," McDonald said. "We hadn't even eaten yet when we got out."

Kim Lucas, a waitress at Slates for 21 years, said she gave the order to diners to evacuate the building.

"It smelled like burning plastic so we checked the trash," Lucas said.

"And then we thought it could be coming from the kitchen and when we looked up through the vent in the kitchen, we could see the flames out of the back upstairs window.

"We immediately called 911 after (owner Wendy Larson) said to and then I went into the dining room and told everyone to get out and just go slow and be careful. Everyone just acted so quickly."

Shortly after 3 p.m., people gasped as water poured off the roof of the building as an Augusta firefighter aimed directly at flames.

"Look at that," one woman cried, putting her hand over her mouth as she watched shingles fly down onto the pavement, grazing Slates' trademark purple and yellow awning.

About 4 p.m., the crowds got so close to fire hoses that fire crews had to put up yellow caution tape as they continued to battle the blaze.

At one point, firefighters turned off their water hoses and retrieved people's belongings -- purses and keys -- from Slates.

They also formed a human chain down Water Street to remove art from the building, passing paintings from person to person.

The fire continued to burn into the late evening.

"This is just very sad," said Mary Plumer, a Hallowell resident. "Slates is really the heart of Hallowell."

Elizabeth Comeau--623-3811, Ext. 433

ecomeau@centralmaine.com