AUGUSTA — Four adults and their pets escaped without injury Sunday afternoon as fire damaged their house on Blueberry Hill Lane in Augusta.
Just before 1 p.m., the home’s owner reported a fire had begun at his family’s house at 54 Blueberry Hill Lane.
Augusta firefighters sounded a second alarm to summon more help when they saw smoke billowing into the sky as they headed toward the blaze above the Sand Hill section of the city.
Firefighters arrived to find a three-season, attached porch burning.
Battalion Chief John Bennett of the Augusta Fire Department said the flames would have likely spread to more of the three-story house had firefighters not doused the flames quickly, and had the homeowner not closed the door between the enclosed porch and the rest of the house before firefighters arrived.
“Kudos to the crew. They did a really good job and got a lot of water on the fire quickly. And kudos to the homeowner, for shutting the door,” Bennett said Sunday, shortly after firefighters from Augusta and several other communities spent about three hours extinguishing the flames.
City tax records show the house, built in 1983, is owned by Scott and Sarah Lowell, who bought it in 2017. The Lowells, two other adults and the residents’ pets escaped unharmed.
Bennett said the house, which is insured, is repairable, and the residents should be able to return to the dwelling after the work is completed.
The Red Cross assisted the family Sunday in finding a place to stay for the night.
Bennett said the cause of the fire was considered accidental, either the result of discarded smoking materials or a space heater in the enclosed porch. He said extensive damage to the porch prevented officials from determining the exact cause of the fire.
There are no fire hydrants in that part of Augusta, so other fire departments helped shuttle water to the scene to douse the flames.
Firefighters from Belgrade, Chelsea, Gardiner, Hallowell, Manchester, Randolph, Sidney, Togus, Vassalboro and Winthrop assisted the Augusta Fire Department in battling the flames.
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