Rescue crews put out a fire at 181 Woodville Road in Chester on Saturday. Two occupants were rescued from the home. Photo courtesy of Lincoln Fire Department
Firefighters in Penobscot County entered a burning home and saved two people Saturday night.
The fire at 181 Woodville Road in Chester was reported to the Penobscot Regional Communications Center at about 8 p.m.
Chester, a rural town, does not have its own fire department and is instead covered by the Lincoln Fire Department. The closest station to Saturday’s fire was a 15-minute drive away, Lincoln fire Lt. Dan Silva said Sunday, and on Saturday night, that station was only manned by four first responders, including Silva.
“That’s what we had to work with for the first few minutes of the fire until we had other crews come in,” Silva said.
Firefighters from East Millinocket, Milford and Howland later arrived to assist, he said.
When the four Lincoln firefighters arrived on Woodville Road, they found that the fire was blocking the front entrance and that the home’s two residents were missing, according to a Facebook post from the fire department.
Silva and firefighter Nate Chandler circled the home and found the two residents near the back door.
Despite heavy smoke, Chandler was able to access the back porch and pull the residents out of the burning home.
While walking to the ambulance, one of the two residents, who the department described as elderly, collapsed on the driveway before making it to the ambulance. Both were transported to the Penobscot Valley Hospital for smoke inhalation. They are both in stable condition, authorities said.
Firefighters then shifted their efforts to extinguishing the blaze, but crews reported that it was so intense they were forced to back up into a defensive position before being able to attack the fire inside the house.
The home is considered a total loss.
Silva said the fire appears to have been caused by a wood stove located near the front of the house. The Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office was contacted to investigate further, but the fire is not considered suspicious.
The Lincoln firefighters noted that the department’s low staffing – a problem plaguing police, fire departments and other first responders in many municipalities across Maine – complicated their efforts Saturday night.
“The crew defied the odds, and the two people are still living because of their willingness to push the envelope,” the department’s statement on Facebook says in part. “Full-time firefighters in the firehouse 24/7 makes a difference,” the department said, adding that the time it takes to respond can be the difference between life and death.
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