The fire that consumed the Lincoln News was one of the largest that Fire Chief Philip Dawson has seen in years. "We had an extreme amount of fire, it was probably one of the biggest fires I've seen in a long time. Water was being put onto the fire and an aggressive interior attack was conducted, however they didn't have enough water, so to speak, because there was too much fire -- we needed more crew."

In addition to the Lincoln Fire Department, crews from Howland, Lee, Mattawamkeag, and Sebois responded. While it was contained to one property, the fire burned for about six hours. "I was extremely proud of the guys on how they all worked together. You got 50 personnel coming from four different departments with four different way of doing things. But they responded well and secured it by midnight."

Dawson says the fire appears to have started in the rear of the one-story building, possibly by the furnace. He says while foul play is not suspected, the state fire marshal will inspect the case because the property damage was so extensive. "The building was a goner. What we were hoping to do is try to save as much of his business portion, where his computers are, as possible. And we were fairly successful there. I think we were able to salvage several computers plus portions of their paperwork."

Lincoln News owner Kevin Tenggren, a resident of Argyle, says the building housed the small weekly newspaper and a printing business. Three commercial presses were consumed in the fire, but the total cost of the damage is unclear. "I'm just overwhelmed, basically, still in shock. I can't believe it happened," he says. "Sitting home last night and then I get a call that the place is on fire. It's like a dream."

Tenggren says the building was insured and that he plans to continue putting out the paper. His three employees will keep their jobs, he says. "Gonna keep plugging away. We've moved next door, going to get some phone lines established, get hooked up to the Internet. Just a lot of work to do. I'll print next week."

The newspaper, which has a circulation of about 6,400, is printed on Wednesday afternoon. Lincoln Town Manager Lisa Goodwin says it serves to connect several towns in the Lincoln Lakes region.

"There is always a traffic jam over in front of the Lincoln News on Wednesday night with people wanting to get in and get the paper, especially in the summertime when all the yard sale advertisements are in there," Goodwin says. "And we have our local news, the government news, school news, social news -- you know, who's getting married, and everything about our community is included in that paper."

Goodwin says the good news is that she's received several calls from other publishers looking to help the Lincoln News. "We've been getting a lot of calls from newspapers all over the state wanting to help the Lincoln News. And normally newspapers are in competition with each other, they're trying to sell their paper, but when tragedy strikes they all pull together just like a small community."

Assuming all goes according to recovery plans, the Lincoln News should return to newsstands next Thursday.