Guests and dogs escaped early morning blaze in historic inn with some traumatic history.

Carrie Jones

Mar 30, 2026

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Acadia Psychiatry.

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TRENTON—The State Fire Marshal’s Office currently believes that the fire that damaged the Open Hearth Inn at 1147 Bar Harbor Road was not intentional.

“Due to the extent of the damage and structural collapse, the origin and cause of the fire could not be definitively determined. However, at this time, the investigation indicates the fire was accidental,” Shannon Moss, public information officer for the Maine Department of Public Safety explained.

The Trenton Volunteer Fire Department responded shortly before 3 a.m. to the Saturday, March 28 fire.

“Upon arrival, crews encountered a well-involved fire that had spread rapidly throughout the building,” Moss said. “Two individuals were inside the inn at the time of the fire and were able to exit safely.”

Active flames and heavy smoke greeted the first responders. The fire activity was primarily in the inn’s middle section of the main building.

The firefighters said that the conditions were frigid and challenging. Gear froze. Surfaces turned icy and slippery. All of these factors complicated the response and increased the chance that firefighters could slip and fall.

The major fire at the property occurred just over 48 hours after responding to the same site for a dumpster fire, March 25. When firefighters arrived to the dumpster fire at the property Wednesday night, they found a dumpster with contents that were on fire. Though the dumpster was located near the Open Hearth Inn, no other structures, other than the Open Hearth Inn sign, were threatened.

“Crews were able to quickly bring the fire under control, extinguish the blaze, and complete overhaul of the debris. The contents of the dumpster appeared to include construction debris and furniture,” the department said.

The firefighters were able to leave that fire shortly after midnight.

Then, Sunday, the firefighters returned to the property.

“This morning, Trenton firefighters were called back to 1147 Bar Harbor Road for a rekindle. Upon arrival, crews found smoke and hot spots in an adjoining roof line. Over the years, multiple layers of shingles had been installed on the building, which allowed heat and fire to extend and smolder in concealed areas. Fire crews performed additional overhaul and confirmed those areas were fully extinguished,” the fire department explained on its social media account.

Departments from Ellsworth, Lamoine, Hancock, Sullivan, Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Penobscot, Blue Hill, Brooklin, Mariaville, Otis, Eastbrook, Sedgwick, Sorrento, and Surry assisted Trenton at the March 28 fire.

Jason Schlosser, who works for Ohana Inn, the company that manages and owns the inn, wrote, “The call at 3:30 in the morning is the kind of call you never want to get. But the part that matters most is this: everyone is safe. A couple staying with us was alerted by their dogs in the middle of the night and got out in time.

“When I arrived, what stood out wasn’t just the fire and the crews, it was our team. People showed up on their own, before being asked, just to help. One of our leaders from Stonington talked to our GM at Open Hearth first, and even drove over to offer support. In the middle of everything, they did what they always do: took care of people.

“They brought coffee and food for first responders, made sure walkways were safe from the freezing water, helped relocate our guests, and handled a tough situation with a lot of care. They also took a couple that lost everything to a nearby store to buy whatever they needed. These are the biggest hearted people I know.”

The inn has been in Trenton for over 200 years. According to the inn’s website a family had constructed the building in 1820.

Original details at the inn included pumpkin pine floors, open hearth fireplaces with their historic ovens and iron cranes.

It has also been the site of tragic events, including the murder suicide of its previous owners, Gertrude “Trudy” Franzen and her husband, Walter, in 1991.

Both of the Franzens had been in the military and were well known in Trenton and in the American Legion. Walter had also been a director of the Trenton Chamber of Commerce in the early 1970s. They were married in 1966 at Dow Air Force Base’s chapel.

Prior to their deaths, Walter had been in trouble with the law. Once, in 1981, he was indicted for aggravated assault and criminal threatening for pointing a rifle at George Lunt (of Trenton) and Frederick Linscott (of Ellsworth), according to a 1991 Ellsworth American article by Earl Brechlin.

According to reports at the time, Walter shot Trudy, who was found by an employee on the bed in the inn. The employee located Walter on the floor near the bed. There was a handgun on the scene and a short note from Walter.

Brechlin quoted Maine State Police Spokesman Steve McCausland as saying, “He left a note saying his death was a suicide and admitting responsibility for his wife’s death. There was no stated reason as to why.”

Water was 63 and Trudy was 59 when they died.

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