An improperly installed wood stove at 687 Boothbay Rd. in Edgecomb was the source of a potential structure fire Saturday, Feb. 21. Tightly packed plaster and the quick response of the Edgecomb, Boothbay, Newcastle, and Wiscasset fire departments prevented flames in a basement crawl space from encompassing the house, Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter said.
The Edgecomb Fire Department was paged to 687 Boothbay Rd. (Route 27) at approximately 9:13 a.m., Potter said. Units were on the scene less than 10 minutes later.
In addition to four area fire departments, the Wiscasset Ambulance Service responded to the scene and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office helped direct traffic, which was reduced to a single lane on Route 27. No one was injured due to the fire, Potter said.
The owner of the house, Ned Weeks, reported the fire after seeing smoke rising from the floorboards of his house Saturday morning, Potter said. Embers from a fire lit the previous evening had gotten caught inside the wall and smoldered throughout the night in a basement crawl space, Potter said.
The embers ignited in the crawl space, but the flames were quickly extinguished, Potter said. According to Potter, tightly packed plaster around the chimney and crawl space prevented the flames from spreading. “I’ve never seen anything char so much without igniting,” Potter said.
Firefighters identified other hot spots in the wall and contained them, Potter said. The majority of damage from the fire was around the chimney, where plaster needed to be torn out, Potter said. The scene was cleared at approximately 11:50 a.m. According to Potter, the house is still livable.
“Anytime we can save a house and someone can still live in it, it’s awesome,” Potter said. “It proves that all of our training and mutual aid pays off. We could not have done it without mutual aid. This is another example of all of us working together.”
