MONMOUTH — A mobile home at 81 Back St. was destroyed by a fire Monday morning.

No one was home when the fire broke out around 9:30 a.m. and no injuries were reported, said Monmouth Assistant Chief Ed Pollard.

The home is owned by Ronald and Donna Beaule, according to town property records. Glenn Scalfer, a Monmouth resident who said he had been house-sitting in recent days, said Mike Beaule lived in the mobile home with his girlfriend and her two teenage children.

“They’re on a cruise somewhere in the Bahamas,” Scalfer said. “There’s no way they can get back.”

Neighbor Jodi Beck, who happened to be working from home, said she called for help when she smelled smoke coming through an open window in her house.

“I saw smoke going across the field,” Beck said. “I looked out and saw smoke coming from the roof.”

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The mobile home, which has an enclosed porch spanning most of its length, was almost entirely on fire and starting to collapse when the first firefighters arrived, Pollard said. The flames spread briefly to long dry grass behind the building, burning about a 50-foot area, he said.

Pollard said he first put the firefighters to work dousing the grass fire before turning their attention to the mobile home.

“The building wasn’t salvageable,” he said. “We wanted to keep (the grass fire) from spreading.”

Firefighters from Greene, Leeds, Wales and Winthrop joined Monmouth crews in extinguishing the blaze. Crews spent considerable time trying to access and spray fire that spread between the ceiling and roof.

“The problem is getting inside,” Pollard said. “The floor is not safe.”

Craig Crosby — 621-5642
ccrosby@centralmaine.com


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