Flames cause extensive damage early Monday to the house at 45 Drummond Ave. in Waterville. Waterville Police Department photo
WATERVILLE — Officials are investigating the cause of a fire early Monday that damaged a single-family home at 45 Drummond Ave., a few houses away from George J. Mitchell School.
The fire, determined to have started in an attic space above the second-floor bedrooms, was reported shortly before 2 a.m., drawing about 25 firefighters from Waterville, Winslow, Fairfield, Oakland and Skowhegan, according to Waterville fire battalion Chief John Gromek.
“There’s significant damage to the second floor,” Gromek said.
A woman and her 9-year-old son were at the home and were able to escape the fire, Gromek said. No injuries were reported and the American Red Cross was helping the woman and her son, he said.
Fire officials found no working smoke detectors in the woodframed house, which was built in 1924, and Gromek encouraged people to make sure they have them.
The fire is not suspicious in nature, the home is insured and the insurance company will investigate the cause further, according to Gromek.
The first firefighters to arrive found fire on the second floor, as well as in the attic, he said.
He said the woman woke to a glow along the wall in her bedroom and called 911. The boy’s bedroom also was on the second floor, but he was sleeping on the first floor at the time, according to Gromek.
“The boy was actually sleeping on the couch downstairs, which probably is a good thing,” he said.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire shortly after 2:30 a.m.
At the scene later Monday, the house was quiet and no one was around. A small dormer on the roof was burned and charred and debris was scattered around. A window near it on the second floor was broken.
The home is on the east side of Drummond Avenue, which stretches from Armory Road and High Street.
The owner of the property, which was rented to the occupants, is Mark Dominique.
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