OGUNQUIT, Maine - A landmark waterfront hotel in York County was destroyed by a wind-swept fire that quickly spread to an adjacent restaurant with rooms for rent upstairs.
Ogunquit Fire Chief Mark O'Brien tells the Portland Press Heraldthat the Blue Water Inn was a "total loss.'' The seven-room bed and breakfast, which also had a restaurant and beach bar, was completely gutted by the Tuesday night blaze. The cause of the fire is unknown.
O'Brien says firefighters couldn't enter the hotel because the spreading flames made it too dangerous. Firefighters were also limited to fighting the fire from two sides because the hotel was on a peninsula.
O'Brien called the blaze one of the worst he could remember since the 1980s. One firefighter was hospitalized after suffering from smoke inhalation.