WATERVILLE — A series of fires on Friday led to an arrest in Waterville and an investigation by the state into suspicious circumstances in Winslow.

A Waterville man was arrested on a charge of arson at 4 Spring Place in Waterville. Shortly before 11 p.m. Friday, firefighters received reports of a fire and arrived to find a dumpster on fire near the residence, Chief Jason Frost of Waterville Fire Rescue said.

“It sounds like somebody in that area was lighting fireworks,” Frost said, “and caught a box on fire with fireworks in it, and then threw that in the dumpster, which then, in turn, obviously caught the dumpster on fire.”

The fire was extinguished and the Office of State Fire Marshal was called to investigate.

The state fire marshal also investigated a house fire early Friday in Winslow. The fire was called in around 3 a.m. at 14 Lithgow St., a vacant two-story home without running water or electricity. It was owned by Steve Samuels and valued at $253,900 in 2024, according to real estate tax records.

Because the house had no power, the cause of the fire was deemed suspicious, Chief Mike Murphy of the Winslow Fire Department said.

An active investigation by the state fire marshal’s office is underway, Shannon Moss, the state public information officer, said.

Nine local departments responded to the fire and remained at the scene for six hours as a result of holiday staffing difficulties.

“They had issues with the heat, no manpower because it was a holiday weekend,” Murphy said. “So it did go to a third alarm because of manpower issues.”

Holiday fire incidents were not unique to central Maine. Three members of a pyrotechnics team were injured in Newry Saturday night after fireworks malfunctioned during a celebration at Sunday River Ski Resort.

The cause of the fireworks malfunction also is under investigation.