Mariah McGuiggan, who works at Chapman Construction next door, said she was in her office when she heard loud bangs and ran out to help the owner of Chasse Marine.
"I thought he dropped a boat or something," McGuiggan said.
Damariscotta Deputy Fire Chief John Pinkham said the owner of Chasse Marine was seen trying to move boats away from the flames when he was overcome by thick smoke.
"I know he's in stable condition and he's able to talk," Pinkham said of the business owner.
The State Fire Marshal's Office said a man sustained minor injuries in the fire. He was treated at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta and has since been released from the facility.
The video that shows the explosion was captured by Damariscotta resident Tony Loconto, a retired Florida law enforcement officer who lives about a quarter-mile away from Chasse Marine.
"I had just passed that area maybe five minutes before and there was nothing. And coming back to my place on Main Street, I noticed the smoke," Loconto said.
Loconto said he then pulled into a strip mall north of Chasse Marine and saw a lot of black smoke coming out as fire crews had not yet arrived.
"The smoke covered the whole front of the building. You couldn't see the [company's] name or anything," he said. "Then EMS units started showing up and the people there said that some of the business people had already called it in. And I just took my camera out and started taking some shots. I stood out of the way and, you know, it started popping. There were people outside the building, but no one was saying that there was anybody inside or anything," Loconto added. "Soon after I got there, the first EMS people got there. So I just backed off and let the professionals deal with it."
Loconto said that he then saw firefighters from a number of different communities arrive at the scene, so he decided to leave to stay out of their way.
"It looked like they had it under control," he said. "The flames were down. The smoke was starting to turn white, which is a good sign. But that's as much as I know."
The manager of the Hannaford that is across the street from Chasse Marine told Maine's Total Coverage that they heard several small pops and then a big explosion. The Hannaford manager said he believes the Chasse Marine building will be a total loss. The State Fire Marshal's Office noted in a news release that the building was insured.
Liz Von Huene, who works at Salt Bay Framers, which is located in a building next to Chasse Marine, told Maine's Total Coverage that most of the marine business was engulfed in flames and that most of the roof appeared to be destroyed.
When Von Huene spoke with Maine's Total Coverage at about 10:45 a.m., she said she could still see flames but noted that much of the fire had been knocked down and she could mainly see smoke.
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