PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Firefighters in Maine's largest city battled an apartment house fire that a neighbor says was started by children playing with sparklers.

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=205889


I wouldn't be surprised if they banned sparklers in Maine because of this.



City officials say everyone made it out of the building to safety late Monday morning, but thick plumes of smoke could be seen from downtown as firefighters battled the blaze.

The Portland Press Herald quotes a neighbor, Melissa Trott, as saying kids caused the fire by trying to light fireworks using a toaster oven.

A city spokeswoman declined to discuss the cause of the fire. Congress Street was closed as firefighters doused the blaze in the building across the street from the Eastern Cemetery.