CLINTON — A fire destroyed a mobile home on Main Street Friday, months after the property owner said he asked the owner to remove it.
The fire broke out a little after 1 p.m. at 774 Main St. in Clinton on the property of brothers James and Robert Simonson, who live in a house on property. The mobile home belonged to Kenny Cromett of Clinton, according to James Simonson and Clinton Police Chief Craig Johnson.
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The fire took about 15 minutes to extinguish and the cause of the blaze had not yet been determined, according to Clinton Firefighter Randy Caswell. No one was injured in the fire.
James Simonson called 911 after he and his brother spotted flames coming from the mobile home, he said.
“We saw a little fire and we grabbed a hose and started to throw some five-gallon buckets of water on it but it was too much for us,” James Simonson said. “The thing was a fire trap.”
Simonson, who has lived at the property for more than 50 years, said the mobile home was brought to the property by Cromett several years ago and has been abandoned for months. Bushels of hay surrounded the mobile home, so Simonson suspected that the hay caught fire and spread.
A couple months back, Simonson said he asked Clinton’s code enforcement officer to have Cromett remove the mobile home. Johnson, the police chief, acknowledged the dispute between Simonson and Cromett and said the town was waiting for the ground to dry as the snow melt-off had created puddles throughout the property.
The fire destroyed the mobile home and spread to some chicken coops and wooden debris in the area, according to Caswell. The wildfire classification in the Clinton area on Friday was high, meaning fires can start easily and spread rapidly. In a high-rating area, fires can become difficult to control unless spotted quickly. During high levels of wildfire danger, the state and smaller fire departments don’t release burn permits.
Clinton Fire Department, Clinton Police Department, Fairfield Fire Department, Winslow Fire Department and the Maine Forest Service responded to the fire.
Jesse Scardina — 861-9239 jscardina@centralmaine.com Twitter: @jessescardina
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