WINSLOW — Paula Richards was working on her computer Sunday night in a back room of the Abbott Road home she shared with her husband, Bud, when she heard a huge bang next to the house.
“Whoa, that scared the heck out of me,” she said Monday in a telephone interview. When she went outside, she saw the garage was smoking and called 911.
By the time fire crews got to the scene, the garage was engulfed in flames, Winslow Fire Lt. Waylon Capp said.
A lightning strike is believed to have started the fire, which destroyed the garage and the log-cabin-style house at 854 Abbott Road in east Winslow. The garage burned to the ground and the house was gutted and charred.
The Richards, their caregiver and their dog, Max, escaped the blaze without injury.
Bud Richards, 67, is a Vietnam War veteran who is disabled and on oxygen and Paula Richards, 65, is also disabled. The couple lived at the house for almost 30 years.
Sgt. Ken Grimes, from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, said Monday a lightning strike probably caused the blaze. Lightning strikes cause a few fires every summer in the state, he said.
The Winslow Fire Department was called to the fire shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday after a heavy thunderstorm blew through the area.
The garage collapsed within minutes of fire crews’ arrival at the scene, and they had trouble getting enough water to the fire to keep the flames off the house.
Tankers and extra firefighters were called in from Waterville, Albion, South China, China, Fairfield and Vassalboro. Capp said the house siding caught fire quickly after the garage fell apart.
Before the house become fully involved, Paula Richards went inside to rescue Max, a miniature schnauzer, who was hiding under her bed. Capp and another firefighter helped bring her out before the fire caught the building.
Heat from the blaze was so intense that firefighters couldn’t get close enough to tackle the flames on the house, Capp said. Firefighters were called back to the house around 9:30 a.m. Monday to put out small fires that had reignited.
Members of the Richards family gathered at the scene of the burned remains in shock at the extent of the damage.
Bud’s brother Floyd Richards and his wife, Margaret, had driven to the site from their home in Palmyra. She found out about the fire from photos on social media Monday morning, she added,
“It was unbelievable,” Margaret said.
Kelly Klaiber, Paula’s daughter, drove up from Topsham on Monday to survey the damage. The family hopes to raise money online to help rebuild the home.
On Monday afternoon, Paula Richards said she and her husband had gotten some assistance from the Red Cross and were planning to stay at a Comfort Inn for a few days until they could find another place to live.
Even though she, Bud and Max are safe, it was heartbreaking to watch a the place they had made their home for nearly three decades go up in flames, she said.
“Everything is gone,” Paula Richards said. “My pictures, my memories. It’s pretty sad.”
Peter McGuire — 861-9239
Twitter: PeteL_McGuire
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