The Unity, Maine Community Market Has Burned Down

This Amish market has become fairly well-known, featuring in media coverage over the years. It also became popular in its own right, thanks in part to its weekly Wednesday “Donut Day“.

Burnt-down Amish market in Maine — Image: Abigail Curtis/Bangor Daily News

Sadly the news came today that the Unity, Maine Community Market rapidly burned down yesterday. From Bangor Daily News:

UNITY, Maine — The Amish Community Market and Bakery in Unity burned down on Thursday, leaving a smoldering, smoking heap of metal where the community gathering spot known for its Wednesday doughnuts had stood.

The store, run by members of the Amish community, drew accolades over the years from near and far for its well-crafted baked goods, drawing visitors from all over.

Nobody was hurt in the fire, which drew companies from nearly a dozen surrounding towns to try and quell the blaze.

Unity Fire Chief Blaine Parsons said that the first firefighters got to the store at about 2:30 p.m., when it was already engulfed in flames. The store is always closed to the public on Thursdays, and two employees made it out safely.

The fire went fast:

Later, as darkness fell, Stephen Smith, the son-in-law of store owner Caleb Stoll, worked to help take care of the family’s animals.

“It happened super fast,” he said of the fire.

A young woman had been working in the bakery, getting ready for Friday, when she suddenly heard a crackling sound from a wall near the boiler. She ran to get help, but it moved quickly.

“My brother-in-law was coming down from stacking ice. By the time he saw it, there was flames coming out of the skylights,” Smith said. “By the time they actually got there, which was maybe a minute later, it was blasting the windows out. So it went super, super fast, and really hot.”

The store will be missed, at least until it’s rebuilt, which if it happens, I assume will happen fairly quickly:

By 4 p.m., firefighters from Unity were continuing to douse the smoldering heap with water while other fire and ambulance companies began to pack up. Amish people watched from nearby, their old-fashioned dresses and other clothing making a contrast with the firefighters’ grimy turnout gear.

The store plays an important role in the region, especially within the Amish community.

“It’s definitely one of the center points of the entire community,” Emily Newell, a captain on the Unity Fire Department, said. “This is awful.”

Smith said the family will “probably” build the store back again. It was funny – though that word doesn’t feel right – to see this news today, as I was just telling someone about this store in the comments to a YouTube video a day or two ago.

Sorry to see this happen as from all I’ve read it seems like it was a well-run place that the community loved. No doubt a gut-punch for the owners, but one of the big pluses of Amish life is being able to depend on community to help bounce back from things like this. That usually manifests in a lot of help rebuilding. A community effort like that would certainly go well with the name of this store.

Update (Feb. 3): Amish & Non-Amish Combine To Help Unity Market Rebuild Effort

Nice follow-up story to the news that the Unity, Maine Community Market burned down last week. From Bangor Daily News:

UNITY, Maine — Immediately after a fast-moving fire destroyed the Amish Community Market and Bakery in Unity last week, Caleb Stoll felt overwhelmed as he looked at the still-smoldering ruins of the business he had built from the ground up.

But the outpouring of support he and the community are receiving from around the state has buoyed his spirits at a tough time.

“People are being very, very helpful,” Stoll said Wednesday. “It wouldn’t sound right to say that I am surprised, but I wouldn’t have expected this kind of response. We’re getting letters and calls and offers of help.”

The fire was discovered last Thursday afternoon by a woman working in the store’s bakery. She ran out to get help, but within minutes there were “flames all over,” Stoll said. Although the fire marshal has not pinpointed the fire’s cause, Stoll believes it started in the chimney or stove.

“I think the initial sight of the store in flames was pretty overwhelming,” he said. “Where it felt almost hopeless was the next morning, coming down and seeing the ruins, which were still smoking.”

But a crew of about 20 Amish community members and neighbors helped clear the rubble away. They were done with the bulk of the work Friday night, just a day after the fire. That day, a neighbor with an excavator helped clear away the heavy steel, while others grabbed shovels and wheelbarrows to remove the rest of the charred remains.

Stoll plans to rebuild with a hope of opening by early summer. Besides the expected Amish community aid, help has poured in from non-Amish Mainers:

What he didn’t count on was the help of other Mainers who appreciate the store and want to support him in his rebuilding efforts. Stoll said he’s received donations as small as $10 and as large as $1,000, as well as many offers to help rebuild.

“Just the fact that people took the time to think of us [is meaningful],” Stoll said.

Stoll is working on getting a temporary store location in a former produce building, to at least operate on a limited scale providing bulk food and feed.

Walter Boomsma shares two updates from Facebook. In the first you can see where the market once was and cleanup in progress:

The second describes prep for rebuilding:

If you’d like to contribute, here’s the info via Bangor Daily News:

If people want to help, they may send donations to Downeast Credit Union, Community Market Savings Account, PO BOX 760, Unity, ME 04988 or Community Market, C/O Bishop Caleb Stoll, 368 Thorndike Road, Unity, ME 04988.

Stoll told the paper that “I don’t have a way to adequately thank the people who have responded.”