ROCKLAND (July 21, 2004): The State Fire Marshal's Office is continuing their investigation of a three-alarm fire on Wharf Street in Rockland late Tuesday night that destroyed a commercial building on the waterfront, as well as a boat and four vehicles parked nearby.

Rockland Assistant Fire Chief Adam Miceli said late Wednesday that Investigator Joel Davis visited the scene during the day and cleared the way for the building's owner, Charlie Weidman, to clean and salvage what's left of his building.

A commercial building on Wharf Street, off Tillson Avenue, was destroyed by fire along with a boat and four vehicles parked outside it.

At times, the orange glow of the fire could be seen as far away as Wal-Mart on Route 1.

Miceli said it's not been determined what caused the blaze that leveled the building and turned the sky orange for more than an hour shortly before midnight.

A used sailboat Weidman recently purchased for $500 in exchange for services owed to him by a customer was destroyed along with a passenger car parked beside it. Another car and two pickup trucks parked near the building were also damaged in the fire.

The building and the boat belonged to Weidman, who owns Charlie's Dive Service with his brother Bill Weidman. The fire was first discovered by Rockland Police Officer Russell Thompson who was passing by.

Charlie Weidman, left, and his brother Bill look on after the fire.

Charlie Weidman told VillageSoup that a few minutes before the fire was reported, he and his brother made a pit stop in the office located across the yard from the building.

"I didn't see a thing; I didn't smell a thing, and I sat outside in the car for a minute before we drove off," Weidman said. "If only I'd taken a minute to go next door, I might have seen the fire."

Weidman said the building was insured.

The fire consumed a multistory wooden structure owned by Charlie Weidman that was used to store odds and ends.

"We had just rented the first floor out to a tenant who was scheduled to arrive in August," Weidman said.

Miceli said the wide, open, wood-frame structure without a sprinkler system was the kind of building that burns fast and hot. Miceli said the fire appeared to start at the back of the building near the harbor, on the lower level that's below the street but accessible from the outside.

So hot in fact was the fire that firefighters had to work quickly to prevent Weidman's adjacent buildings from burning too.

Bystanders watch the blaze. Rockland Assistant Fire Chief Adam Miceli said the fire appeared to start at the back of the building near the harbor, on the lower level that's below the street but accessible from the outside.

"Our biggest concern was the asphalt siding on the office, which is the most combustible thing you can put on the side of a building," Miceli said. In fact, the siding became singed from the heat, and combustible materials stored inside a building next door caught fire behind the wall due to the heat.

The subsequent fires in Weidman's other buildings were brought under control by firefighters before causing too much damage.

In addition to all of Rockland's firefighting equipment, Thomaston's engine and ladder trucks responded, as well as an engine from South Thomaston and a pair of ambulances.

A ladder sprays water on the fire at Beggar's Wharf late Tuesday night. Click here for larger view. (Above Photos by Brooke Holland)

This is what firefighters saw when they first arrived on scene close to midnight Tuesday. Click here for larger view. (Image courtesy of Rockland Fire Dept.)

(Image courtesy of Rockland Fire Dept.)

Click here for a larger view and here for a different view of the same photograph. (Image courtesy of Rockland Fire Dept.)

Another photograph of the initial scene. Click here for larger view. (Image courtesy of Rockland Fire Dept.)