KITTERY, Maine - Two Amazing.net adult video stores in Massachusetts were recently destroyed in separate fires. The chain also has a location in Kittery.
Jennifer Mieth, of the Massachusetts Fire Marshal's Office, said officials "have no reason to believe the two (fires) are related."
In the early hours of Jan. 16, an Amazing.net store in Reading caught fire and spread to a neighboring sandwich shop and liquor store.
The fire in Reading was ruled accidental, most likely due to an electrical cause, Mieth said.
A week later on the morning of Jan. 22, a fire broke out at an Amazing.net store in Peabody. The cause of that fire remains under investigation, Mieth said.
The Kittery branch of the Amazing.net video store chain has been under scrutiny in the past few weeks after residents of Fernald Road began publicly complaining about the excessive traffic, litter and suspicious activity that flows from the nearby Route 236 sex shop onto their road.
Last Monday, the Town Council agreed to ban parking along Fernald Road in hopes of reducing complaints.
Kittery Fire Chief Dave O'Brien said local police and fire officials are "familiar with the situation" at the Massachusetts stores.
"Kittery police have done an investigation," O'Brien said. "We are prepared here in Kittery (if any trouble with the Route 236 store should arise)."
