A Norridgewock home was damaged Tuesday in a fire believed to be caused by a wood stove, but an unusually quick response spared much of the structure from worse damage, the town’s fire chief said.

Firefighters were called around 8:30 p.m. to 15 Whipporwill Road, Chief Todd Pineo of the Norridgewock Fire Department said Wednesday morning. The home is off Winding Hill Road, about 5 miles northwest of the town’s village center in a remote area of Norridgewock.

Crews arrived about nine minutes after the initial call and found heavy fire, mostly in the front right corner of the home, Pineo said.

“It was a very large home that had undergone several additions over time,” he said.

The area where the fire was concentrated — near a wood stove — suffered heavy fire damage on the first and second floors and minor damage on the third floor, Pineo said. Other parts of the house suffered some heat and smoke damage, along with minimal water damage.

“The rest of the structure is salvageable,” Pineo said.

Fire officials believe the wood stove caused the fire, although Pineo said he was unsure whether there was any particular issue with it that led to the blaze.

Initial reports indicated the homeowner may have been trapped inside, Pineo said, but he had made it out by the time firefighters arrived. He is staying with family in the area.

The homeowner and a family member were initially rescuing several animals, Pineo said. All were believed to make it out safely.

Town tax records show that, as of August 2025, Heinz Gossman owns the property.

Firefighters were on scene for about four hours, according to Pineo.

The Norridgewock Fire Department had just held its monthly meeting, so many firefighters were already at the fire station and able to start heading toward the home within a minute of being dispatched, Pineo said. 

“It would have been a lot worse in the middle of the night,” Pineo said, explaining it takes time for volunteers to wake up, prepare themselves and respond to the fire station before going to a fire.

Crews had to navigate several miles of a secondary road in wintery conditions, which are expected this time of year and inevitably can slow down a response, Pineo said.

The Skowhegan, Madison and Smithfield fire departments also provided assistance on scene, and the Fairfield-Benton Fire-Rescue Department covered Norridgewock’s station.

Pineo said Skowhegan’s department responds automatically to structure fires in Norridgewock, but his department asked for help from the other towns early thinking they would need more water and road conditions might delay the response from other towns.

In the end, though, he said it took less water than expected to extinguish, less than 2,000 gallons: “It went out quick.”