BOWDOINHAM
A fire at an unoccupied home on Browns Point Road Friday caused approximately $ 30,000 in damage and required crews from five departments to extinguish.
Bowdoinham Fire Chief Jack Tourtelotte said Friday that firefighters from his department were at a singlevehicle crash on Route 24 near Carding Machine Road at 1 p. m. when a neighbor reported a structure fire on Browns Point Road.
With no house number provided by the neighbor who reported the fire, Tourtelotte went to investigate and found a single-story ranch house at 402 Browns Point Road with smoke spewing from vents and eaves, “so I called for a second alarm,” he said Friday.
Crews from the Topsham, Bowdoin, Richmond and Brunswick fire departments helped Tourtelotte’s team extinguish the flames.
The home, owned by Elizabeth West, is located near the Abagadasset River, so Tourtelotte said crews were able to draw the needed water supply from the river. Once firefighters established the water supply, they quickly knocked down the fire.
Tourtelotte said firefighters were able to save the house, which did sustain quite a bit of water damage. The flames also damaged the attic.
At present the dwelling is uninhabitable, but it could be repaired, the fire chief said.
No one was living in the house, which was to be rented soon. A painter who had been working inside the residence returned from lunch and discovered smoke filling the interior of the home. He pulled down a ceiling tile and saw the smoke from the attic and went to the neighbor’s house to report the fire.
Tourtelotte said fire crews cleared the scene at about 2:15 p.m. The biggest challenge, according to Tourtelotte, was rounding up enough firefighters from volunteer departments to establish the water supply and fight the blaze.
At the request of firefighters, Central Maine Power shut off power to the house.
No one was injured as a result of the fire.
The origin of the fire is not considered suspicious and, as of Friday night, Tourtelotte said he continued to investigate the cause.
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