JACKMAN — Several Canadian logging workers lost their rented mobile home to fire Monday night.
A dozen firefighters from the Jackman-Moose River Fire Department responded to the 5:13 p.m. blaze at a mobile home at John’s Four Seasons Accommodations.
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When they arrived, “the kitchen window was broken out with flames coming out,” Fire Chief Bill Jarvis said on Tuesday, and it took firefighters about an hour-and-a-half to extinguish the blaze.
Investigator Stewart Jacobs, with the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office, determined Tuesday that the fire originated above the kitchen sink and was caused when a cord attached to an electric clock malfunctioned, Jarvis said. He said the blaze’s origin was not considered suspicious.
The renters told Jarvis that the clock had recently started making a lot of noise, possibly from a bad bearing. The problem with the clock caused its electrical cord to overheat, and it shorted out and ignited where it bent 90 degrees to go over the kitchen window, Jarvis said.
The mobile home was assessed at $8,500 and was not insured.
Mobile home park owner John Baillargeon owns the 12- by 66-foot trailer on Albert Street. The park also includes a campground and rental hall, according to its website.
The renters typically return to Quebec on weekends and spend the week in Jackman. They had continued their routine this weekend and stopped at the trailer briefly Monday morning before heading into the woods to work, Jarvis said.
They were not home at the time of the fire, and a neighbor called for help.
Though the trailer was destroyed, some of the renters’ belongings may be salvageable, Jarvis said.
Margil Forest Products, of St. Cyprien, Quebec, rented the home. A co-owner of the company, Gilles Cameron, was staying at the trailer with two of his employees.
A phone call to Baillargeon was not returned Tuesday.
Erin Rhoda — 612-2368
erhoda@centralmaine.com
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