A Falmouth Street man was recovering Tuesday morning at Maine Medical Center after he jumped from the roof of his burning home to escape the flames early Monday morning.
Glen Ingalls, 35, was rushed to the hospital with an ankle injury and second-degree burns to his hands and first-degree burns to his face and chest.
Ingalls said Tuesday morning he expected to be released from the hospital soon. “I guess I was fortunate,” he said. “But I don’t feel very lucky that my whole house and all my stuff is gone.”
Ingalls, who was alone in the house when the fire broke out, said he wasn’t sure what caused him to wake up shortly after midnight on Monday. He said he didn’t know there was a fire in his house until he opened the door to his bedroom and felt the heat from the fire.
He immediately ran across the room and broke through the bedroom window to escape onto a low roof just off his bedroom. He said he burned his hands while he was trying to open the window.
Once he got out onto the roof, Ingalls said the flames engulfed his bedroom. “It looks like I missed it by about 10 seconds,” he said.
Standing on his roof, which was about 10 feet from the ground, Ingalls began yelling for help. It was his shouts that woke up his next-door neighbor Kim Stokes.
Stokes said she woke up to a loud popping noise. “I wasn’t sure what it was,” she said. “And then I heard Glen yell.” Looking out her window, Stokes said she saw the fire had spread to the front porch of the house.
By that time police and firefighters had arrived at the scene. Ingalls said a police officer told him to jump off the roof, which he did, injuring his ankle in the process. He was taken from the scene by ambulance to Maine Medical Center.
Fire Chief Gary Littlefield said it took about 45 minutes for firefighters to get the blaze under control. The only other occupant of the house was a cat, which survived the fire. Littlefield said the house sustained extensive damage throughout the first and second floors.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Westbrook fire department and the state fire marshal’s office, Littlefield said. While Littlefield would not speculate on the cause of the fire, he did say that firefighters were unable to locate any working smoke detectors anywhere in the house.
Waiting to be released from the hospital, Ingalls said he isn’t sure where he is going live. He said he is going to stay with some friends for the time being.
A fire early Monday morning caused heavy damage to this house on Falmouth Street. The resident of the house escaped the flames by jumping off a low roof outside his bedroom. He was taken to Maine Medical Center with burns and an ankle injury.
Fire 2 (Fire 3 is the same cutline) After discovering his house was on fire, a Falmouth Street resident escaped the flames by breaking through his bedroom window and jumping off a low roof to safety. The man was taken to Maine Medical Center with burns and an ankle injury.
A fire early Monday morning caused heavy damage to this house on Falmouth Street. The resident of the house escaped the flames by jumping off a low roof outside his bedroom. He was taken to Maine Medical Center with burns and an ankle injury.
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