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Fire destroys lobster museum at Bar Harbor Oceanarium

Firefighters battled heavy smoke Wednesday evening from a fire that destroyed the Maine Lobster Museum building at the Oceanarium on Route 3 in Bar Harbor. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze. Firefighters from several neighboring communities responsed to aid Bar Harbor firefigthers at the scene.
Rich Hewitt | BDN
Firefighters battled heavy smoke Wednesday evening from a fire that destroyed the Maine Lobster Museum building at the Oceanarium on Route 3 in Bar Harbor. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze. Firefighters from several neighboring communities responsed to aid Bar Harbor firefigthers at the scene.
By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted June 29, 2011, at 8:48 p.m.
Last modified June 30, 2011, at 11:24 a.m.
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Firefighters battled heavy smoke Wednesday evening from a fire that destroyed the Maine Lobster Museum building at the Oceanarium on Route 3 in Bar Harbor. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze. Firefighters from several neighboring communities responsed to aid Bar Harbor firefigthers at the scene.
Rich Hewitt
Firefighters battled heavy smoke Wednesday evening from a fire that destroyed the Maine Lobster Museum building at the Oceanarium on Route 3 in Bar Harbor. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze. Firefighters from several neighboring communities responsed to aid Bar Harbor firefigthers at the scene.
Firefighters battled heavy smoke Wednesday evening from a fire that destroyed the Maine Lobster Museum building at the Oceanarium on Route 3 in Bar Harbor. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze. Firefighters from several neighboring communities responsed to aid Bar Harbor firefigthers at the scene.
Rich Hewitt | BDN
Firefighters battled heavy smoke Wednesday evening from a fire that destroyed the Maine Lobster Museum building at the Oceanarium on Route 3 in Bar Harbor. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze. Firefighters from several neighboring communities responsed to aid Bar Harbor firefigthers at the scene.

BAR HARBOR, Maine — An iconic museum building visited by thousands of Maine schoolchildren and tourists each year was destroyed Wednesday night by fire.

A Maine Lobster Museum building at the Oceanarium on Route 3 burned to the ground, according to Capt. John Lennon of the Bar Harbor Fire Department. The lobster hatchery and other buildings were not damaged.

No one was injured, he said.

The initial report of the fire came in about 6:30 p.m., Lennon said about 9:15 p.m. Wednesday. He did not know who reported the fire.

Firefighters from Trenton, Mount Desert and Southwest Harbor assisted in fighting the blaze.

Lennon said that a crew would remain at the oceanarium until late Thursday or early Friday.

A cause was not expected to be determined until Thursday.

The Oceanarium was founded in 1972 in Southwest Harbor by David Mills, a transplanted Episcopal priest from Ohio, according to previously published reports. The hatchery and the museum destroyed in the fire were opened in Bar Harbor in 1990.

“… Visitors can view a retired Lobster boat and other tools of the trade at the Maine Lobster Museum and enjoy the stories and company of local and retired lobstermen,” according a description of the museum on the website allacadia.com. “They will learn about the lobster industry in Maine and about the lobster’s life outside of the kitchen.”

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  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Aw, not the Lobster Museum.  It’s a sad day for schoolchildren everywhere.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Aw, not the Lobster Museum.  It’s a sad day for schoolchildren everywhere.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Aw, not the Lobster Museum.  It’s a sad day for schoolchildren everywhere.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Aw, not the Lobster Museum.  It’s a sad day for schoolchildren everywhere.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Aw, not the Lobster Museum.  It’s a sad day for schoolchildren everywhere.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Aw, not the Lobster Museum.  It’s a sad day for schoolchildren everywhere.

  • Anonymous

    From paragraph 2: “The lobster hatchery and other buildings were not damaged.”  Later in the article it states: “The hatchery and the museum destroyed in the fire were opened in Bar Harbor in 1990.”… which is it BDN?

  • Downeasta

    This fire seems very suspicious.  Summertime in a museum?  We are not talking of a cold snap and some ones kitchen with a wood stove.

  • Downeasta

    This fire seems very suspicious.  Summertime in a museum?  We are not talking of a cold snap and some ones kitchen with a wood stove.

  • Downeasta

    This fire seems very suspicious.  Summertime in a museum?  We are not talking of a cold snap and some ones kitchen with a wood stove.

  • Anonymous

    I felt sad reading this too.

  • Anonymous

    I felt sad reading this too.

  • Anonymous

    I felt sad reading this too.

  • Anonymous

    It is indeed sad.  I grew up on MDI and 2 or 3 times a summer we would visit the Oceanarium/Aqualand (to the best of my recollection, it’s former name).  Best of luck rebuilding!

  • Anonymous

    It is indeed sad.  I grew up on MDI and 2 or 3 times a summer we would visit the Oceanarium/Aqualand (to the best of my recollection, it’s former name).  Best of luck rebuilding!

  • Anonymous

    It is indeed sad.  I grew up on MDI and 2 or 3 times a summer we would visit the Oceanarium/Aqualand (to the best of my recollection, it’s former name).  Best of luck rebuilding!

  • Anonymous

    It is indeed sad.  I grew up on MDI and 2 or 3 times a summer we would visit the Oceanarium/Aqualand (to the best of my recollection, it’s former name).  Best of luck rebuilding!

  • Anonymous

    Electrical fires don’t care what time of year it is.  Nor do most other causes of fires.

  • green heatherc

    Both the hatchery and the museum were founded in 1990.  Only the museum was destroyed in the fire.

  • Anonymous

    Took my daughter here and she loved the little lobsters.  They are rebuilding as soon as the investigation is done

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    My whole class bussed down from Millinocket to visit the Oceanarium once.  I must’ve been in the third or fourth grade.  They had that tank with various bits of marine life in it the kids were encouraged to touch.  One of my classmates squeezed the sea cucumber.  HINT: Do not squeeze the sea cucumber.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    The hatchery wasn’t destroyed, the museum was, and both were opened in 1990.  Seems pretty straightforward.

  • Anonymous

    If there weren’t any fire sprinklers then maybe they should install them this time around.

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    In June?

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    In June?

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    In June?

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    In June?

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    In June?

  • Anonymous

    More arson in the Maine lobster industry.

  • Anonymous

    reading retention ranks right up there next to comprehension… “The hatchery and the museum destroyed in the fire “…

  • http://twitter.com/z_gryphon Ben Hutchins

    Yeah, you see that second “the” there?  That’s what it’s for.  To make it even clearer, they could have added a couple of commas: “The hatchery, and the museum destroyed in the fire, were opened in Bar Harbor in 1990,” but they aren’t necessary.  If they had intended for both items to be associated with the clause “destroyed in the fire”, it would have been, “The hatchery and museum destroyed in the fire… ”

    NOTE: If you’re going to lead with a dig at someone’s reading comprehension skills, make sure your own are actually working first.

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