READFIELD — A lakefront house that neighbors characterized as a rental camp was severely damaged by fire Tuesday.
As soon as neighbors realized what was happening, they grabbed hoses and started to wet down the grass and trees around the camp.
The house is on Campers Point Road in a heavily wooded area on the western shore of Maranacook Lake in a neighborhood of year-round homes and camps.
Dianna Schmidt, whose parents live nearby, said she learned about the fire around 5:30 p.m., through a call from friends who live across the lake. She said someone on a boat called 911.
“We were concerned about the car by the camp,” she said, but no keys were in it, so it couldn’t be moved.
Neighbors say when the camp was engulfed, flames reached a height of 10 feet above the single-story structure, and they were concerned about the trees.
Schmidt estimated that about two dozen neighbors had gathered when firetrucks arrived in a matter of moments.
At one point, Schmidt said, one of the lines from a power pole fell.
Crews from Winthrop, Readfield, Wayne, Fayette, Mount Vernon, and Winthrop Ambulance crowded down the single-lane road to fight the fire. Central Maine Power Co. was also on the scene.
By 6:45 p.m., the flames were knocked down, and firefighters were still dousing the camp with water.
Schmidt said no one was believed to be at home when the fire broke out.
Jessica Lowell — 621-5632
Twitter: @JLowellKJ
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