Fire sweeps through historic 60,000-square-foot textile mill overlooking Maine waterfall

Fire engulfs historic textile mill in Maine

LEWISTON, Maine — A roaring fire has swept through a historic textile mill overlooking a waterfall in Maine.

Police Lt. Mark Cornelio says the vacant Cowan Mill was engulfed soon after the fire was reported Wednesday afternoon, with flames licking through its roof.

Police have closed streets around the 60,000-square-foot mill in Lewiston, the state’s second-largest city. No injuries have been reported.

The mill was built in 1850 and is on the National Historic Register. It overlooks the Great Falls on the Androscoggin River, which runs through Maine and New Hampshire.

Developers had envisioned transforming the mill into residential or hotel units.

The Sun Journal newspaper says part of the front of the mill collapsed and ash started a brief fire on the roof of a nearby mill. It says police want to question at least two teenagers about the fire.