UNITY — A fast-moving fire Monday destroyed a two-story barn on Albion Road and damaged an adjacent mobile home, rendering it uninhabitable.
The cause of the fire at 562 Albion Road, which is also state Route 202, is unknown, according to Unity fire Chief Blaine Parsons, who was at the scene.
“It extended into the mobile home,” Parsons said. “We did save most of the mobile home. The cause is undetermined at this time.”
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Firefighting units from Albion and Unity were among those that responded Monday to a four-alarm level fire at 562 Albion Road. Morning Sentinel photo by Amy Calder
Parsons said the fire, reported around 1:15 p.m., started on the barn’s first floor. Officers with the state fire marshal’s office were en route to the scene to help determine the cause.
Parsons said he does not know the names of the people who live in the mobile home, how many people live there and whether they own the property, but he said he planned to issue a press release Tuesday morning with more information.
No one was injured in the fire, according to Parsons, who said he was not sure if the property owners are insured.
Equipment in the barn, which Parsons estimated to be 40-by-60-feet in size, was destroyed, he said. He said the barn was constructed of heavy timber. He did not know what equipment was inside the barn.
Firefighters from Unity, Freedom, Albion, Troy, Fairfield, Winslow, Burnham and Liberty responded to the fire, and Montville firefighters covered fire stations, according to Parsons. Thorndike firefighters covered Unity’s station, he said.
“Thanks to all mutual aid departments. It definitely helped us save what we got saved,” he said.
At the scene, firefighters sprayed water on the remains of the barn, which included a charred and blackened frame. They used water that was hauled in with tanker trucks.
Firefighters and sheriff’s deputies prevented the media from getting close to the scene, where people they referred to as the mobile home occupants were gathered.
Waldo County Sheriff’s deputies and Unity Ambulance were at the scene, where the deputies closed off the road and diverted traffic around where emergency vehicles were parked.
Across the road, a man and woman who would give only their first names — Doug and Brenda — sat in lawn chairs, clutching the leashes of two mixed-breed dogs, Callie, which was black, and Rosie, which was brown and white. They said the canines belong to the fire victims, who asked that they care for them while they were at the fire scene. Doug and Brenda said they also were caring for the victims’ kitten, which was in a pet cage in their house.
The barn burned quickly, they said.
“I was inside and I heard ‘pop, pop,’ and I said, ‘Brenda, are you cooking something?’ ” Doug recalled. “She said, ‘No,’ and she went in the front room and looked out and the barn was on fire.”
They said the fire victims had lived in the mobile home only a few months and they did not know their names. Doug said he told them he would help in any way he could.
“We’re just being neighborly, you know?” he said. “Maine people. But for the grace of God, there go I.”
Those who responded included Winslow fire Chief Ronnie Rodriguez and Fairfield fire Chief Duane Bickford.
Just before 3 p.m., smoke was still billowing up from the remains of the barn.
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