SKOWHEGAN — Fire officials Tuesday were continuing to investigate the cause of a fire that destroyed a farmhouse over the weekend, the town’s fire chief said.

The fire at 41 Grassland Lane, a short dirt road off West Ridge Road, destroyed the home as well as two barns, Chief Ryan Johnston of the Skowhegan Fire Department said Tuesday. He said the main home structure may have also had an attached garage or barn.

Firefighters were called to the blaze at 12:05 a.m. Saturday and arrived on scene about 10 minutes later, Johnston said. The fire triggered a third alarm response. 

A woman who lives in the house was awakened by her dogs barking, and she noticed the kitchen was on fire.

“She barely escaped, actually,” Johnston said. “She was very, very fortunate.”

Johnston was unsure if anyone else was home at the time. No injuries were reported.

Crews, which included firefighters from departments in Canaan, Cornville, Fairfield-Benton, Madison, Norridgewock, Solon and Waterville, were on scene until about 6:30 a.m., according to Johnston.

He said the homeowner is planning to meet with fire officials later this week and has a place to stay.

The Fire Department is investigating a few possible causes of the fire, Johnston said, adding that he does not believe it was suspicious.

The home that burned sits atop a small hill overlooking fields that slope down to Wesserunsett Stream. Town tax records list the owner as Bradley Santy. The parcel is listed in tax records as 298 acres, extending south toward the stream and north to the Cornville town line.

Dawn Bearor, of Hampden, grew up in the house as one of four children. She said her grandfather bought the “lower farm” — the property at the bottom of the hill — in 1921. Her father bought the “upper farm” in 1951 from the Frink family, she said. 

Together they operated a farm across about 408 acres, milking about 65 cows and selling hay, said Bearor, whose maiden name is Earle.

A government buyout of dairy farms led to her father selling most of the herd in 1979 and the “upper farm”  in 1984. The family sold the “lower farm” not long after.

Bearor said she is not sure who has owned it since but believes it has changed hands multiple times. 

“After my family, it slowly went into disrepair,” Bearor said. “It used to be just a beautiful, pristine place. … They took it from nothing — because the Frink family also had it in disrepair. My father and mother and our family really brought it back to, really, its glory.”

The current owner, Santy, according to the Maine Farmland Trust, has continued to run the Grassland Lane farm as a dairy along with two nearby properties.

The trust said in a Facebook post in 2018 that the Skowhegan farms were protected farmlands under easements.