UNITY— A local man whose home caught fire Saturday morning was unable to report the blaze right away because he didn’t have a telephone, and the house was destroyed, according to the Fire Department.

Stan Mitchell, of 57 Hunter Road, was able to get out of the house quickly with his dogs; but he had to drive to two neighbors’ houses and stop someone passing by on the road before he could find a phone on which to report the fire, Unity Fire Chief David Smith said.

“There was a bit of a delay in getting the fire called in, and that gave the fire more of a chance to progress and slowed our response in getting to it,” he said. “It was heavily involved when we arrived.”

The house, which belongs to Jim and Brenda Booton, of Florida, and is rented by Mitchell, was destroyed and two other buildings on the property were damaged, Smith said.

The fire, which was reported at 7:20 a.m., is believed to have started in a propane-powered dryer just minutes after Mitchell had turned it on, and the fire spread quickly, Smith said. The Office of State Fire Marshall will be investigating at the scene Monday, but it does not appear to be suspicious.

Firefighters from Freedom, Thorndike and Troy also responded, and firefighters remained on scene until about 11 a.m.

No injuries were reported.

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368rohm@centralmaine.com