copyright the Chronicle January 10, 2018
BARTON — Fire destroyed Ming’s House, the Chinese restaurant here, on Friday. The tricky fire started at around 2 p.m. Barton Fire Chief Kevin Tartaglio, who arrived on the scene just minutes after the department was toned out, said he didn’t get back to the station until around 11:30 or midnight.
About 30 firefighters from Barton, Orleans, Glover, and Irasburg helped battle what could hardly be called a blaze.
Instead, Barton was filled with brown smoke so thick that sometimes it was impossible to even see the restaurant.
Chief Tartaglio said state fire investigators came up on Monday and will issue a report sometime this week. He added that it was an accidental fire.
A neighboring business owner said the owner of Ming’s told him it started as a grease fire.
Chief Tartaglio said it was a “major fire because of the weather,” which was frigid that day.
He said that when he arrived the interior was engulfed in flames, and the whole building was filled with smoke.
“I put a firefighter on one side to protect Rock Insurance and another one on the other to protect the house,” the chief said. “We ran water until we could attempt the interior.”
He said that, as soon as he realized what was going on, he called in mutual aid.
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