Mechanic Falls pastor says fire will ‘set back’ Knox County Christian camp

Aug. 23--WASHINGTON -- A Mechanic Falls pastor who serves as president of a Knox County campground said that the Monday night fire at the campground will set them back as they work to recuperate.

The fire destroyed five buildings at the Washington Advent Christian Camp, including a dormitory, the dining hall and kitchen building, and three camps.

Washington Fire Chief Phil Meunier said that the first call for the fire came in just after 7:30 p.m. Monday, and that Washington firefighters were able to respond quickly due to participating in a training session nearby.

Nobody was injured in the fire, Meunier said.

Darrell Young, a pastor at the Mechanic Falls Advent Christian Church and president of the Washington Advent Christian Campground, said that the camp's annual two-week retreat, which invites children to stay during the first two weeks of August, had ended at the time of the fire, and that no children or adults were present while the buildings were burning.

"Normally, we have 9 to 12 year olds attend the camp during the first week of August, and high school students the second week of August," Young said. "There's also a family camp that goes on at the same time that offers church services and bible studies. Fortunately, both of those retreats were complete, so there was nobody there during the fire."

Young said that the campground's first step is to work with the insurance companies to find out how much the buildings were insured for.

"I'm only in the early dealings with the insurance companies, but I'm finding out that we were grossly under-insured," Young said. "Hopefully, we'll learn from our mistakes moving forward."

The fire destroyed the camp's main dining hall, a small children's chapel, and three small cottages, two of which were owned by the campground association, Young said.

However, the campground's biggest loss came in the form of a two-story building that acted as a boarding house.

"There were around 20 rooms in that building," Young said. "If people were here for a retreat or for a meeting, they might stay in that building."

After dealing with the insurance companies, Young said that the campground's first priority will be to construct an operational dining hall.

"That's our first area of concentration," Young said. "We have to feed the people who come here. We had a lot of restaurant-quality equipment in there that will need replacing."

As for the future, Young said that the campground is going to take it one step at a time.

"I'm sure we're going to have fundraisers moving forward," Young said. "Right now, I'm just focusing on talking with the insurance company and seeing where we stand."

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