A fire tore through a home at 153 Gale Road in Palmyra on Saturday, destroying the home and everything in it and leaving at least three people without a place to live, a local fire chief said.

“It was a total loss — no insurance,” Hartland fire Chief Charles Gould said Sunday.

Gould, who responded to the fire, said he thinks an electrical heater in the “house trailer” caused the fire.

“We didn’t call the fire marshal in, where there was no insurance and no injuries,” he said. “We’re almost positive it was the electrical heater.”

About 20 firefighters from Hartland, Canaan and St. Albans battled the blaze, which was reported at about 4 p.m. Saturday, according to Gould. Gale Road is off Raymond Road. “It was very stubborn,” Gould said of the fire.

He said at least three people were home when the fire broke out, including a woman he believes is Kelli McFarlin, the homeowner, as well as her daughter and daughter’s boyfriend.

“They had a dog — the dog got out but they can’t find it yet,” Gould said. “It is a pit bull mix. I guess he is old and kind of blind and can’t hear good.”

McFarlin, who was at the property Sunday retrieving items, said her dog, Lexi, a yellow and gray pit bull, Labrador mix, escaped the blaze but was still missing.

Gould said when firefighters arrived, they did not hear any smoke detectors going off and he believes the family had no smoke detectors in the home.

“Smoke detectors are very important and they’re very cheap,” he said, adding that it takes only a couple of minutes to check batteries in smoke detectors, which save lives.

Gould said firefighters left the scene around 7 p.m. Saturday. No one was hurt in the fire, he said. The American Red Cross was called to help the family, he said.

Palmyra does not have a fire department, but it has a chief and deputy chief, according to Gould, who said area fire departments cover different parts of Palmyra.