ATHENS — A hunting camp owned by a registered Maine Guide from Strong was heavily damaged by fire Sunday night.
It appears the fire started near the chimney of a wood stove shortly before 5 p.m. in the camp off Stickney Hill Road, said Athens Fire Chief Travis Thompson. He said an investigator from the Office of State Fire Marshal was scheduled to inspect the camp on Monday to determine the cause of the fire.
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Thompson said the camp is owned by Scott York, who in recent years ran bear hunts in the wooded areas near Mayfield and Kingsbury Pond. He said he thought most of York’s guiding now is concentrated in the Strong area, in Franklin County.
Thompson said York was at the cabin earlier in the day Sunday. No one was at the camp when the fire started and no one was injured.
Firefighters from Athens, Harmony, Wellington, Cornville, Skowhegan and Madison responded to the call based on the region’s mutual aid agreement to respond to structure fires regardless of the size. Ambulances from Harmony and Skowhegan also were sent to the scene as a precaution.
Thompson said mutual aid agreements for tanker trucks with water were initiated after a series of fires in the fall of 2011. Thompson added that it was good other departments responded so quickly because a dead battery prevented the Athens tanker truck from starting.
He said the fire appears to have spread quickly from the chimney into the eaves of the two-room hunting camp, which has a small sleeping area in the back.
“It burned the inside pretty good,” Thompson said. “And there’s a lot of smoke and water damage and fire damage inside the camp, but the structure itself is still standing.”
He said York told him he was not insured.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter: @Doug_Harlow
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