A single-family home in Gardiner was destroyed Wednesday afternoon, and a fire in a clothes dryer damaged an apartment in Augusta.

Lewis “Duddy” Brown, 83, who apparently was crossing the road to his mailbox, died around 5 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Upper Purgatory Dam off Whippoorwill Road recently underwent $28,000 in improvements that lake association officials say will set the dam up for a lengthy, safe future.

Roughly a half dozen people, including children, were forced from their homes Tuesday by a fire inside a Greene duplex.