AUGUSTA — A Wilderness Way home was badly damaged Thursday when fire tore through the down-stairs living area.

Nobody was injured in the blaze at the 60 by 30-foot two-story home on Wilderness Way, a private drive off Outlet Road near the Chelsea town line. Two cats and a bird were killed, said Battalion Chief David Groder of the Augusta Fire Department. A third was still missing Friday afternoon.

Owner Rodney Vigue, 51, shares the home with two adult children and 5 year-old grandson. Vigue’s son, Darike Vigue, was home alone when the fire broke out around 10:30 p.m. Darike Vigue was awakened by a smoke alarm and was able to escape uninjured, Groder said.

There was significant damage to the contents of the home, but Groder believes the home itself can be salvaged. The house is insured.

“The sheet rock did the job and the occupant was able to get out because the smoke detectors worked,” Groder said.

Firefighters from Chelsea, Gardiner, Togus and Windsor responded to the fire. Crews from Vassalboro and Hallowell covered the city’s other calls, Groder said.

An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office was at the home Friday trying to determine how the fire started. The blaze is not suspicious, Groder said.

“I’m not sure what the actual cause was, but in that area around the wood stove,” Groder said.

 

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