A structure fire at 196 Indian Road in Wiscasset, near the Dresden-Wiscasset town line, caused heavy damage to a home late Monday afternoon.
According to homeowner Peter Dalton, he and his wife Leaslie were pulling into their driveway when he saw fire coming through his dining room window. As he went around to the back of the house, the fire blew out the first floor windows.
Leaslie Dalton said she attempted to call 911 several times, but couldn’t find any reception.
“There was crazy reception due to the storm,” Leaslie Dalton said.
Leaslie Dalton eventually ran to her neighbor, Alfred Gray, to make the call at around 4:40 pm.
Dalton said she lost her tropical fish in the fire, but that everything was ultimately replaceable.
Peter Dalton said they had no immediate idea where they would be able to go, but that they knew people who would be willing to house them.
Wiscasset, Alna, Edgecomb, Dresden, Woolwich, and Richmond fire departments all contributed personnel to the scene.
No firefighters were seriously hurt, though a few suffered minor injuries, Wiscasset Fire Chief Robert Bickford said.
One firefighter suffered minor burns, while another was hit in the eye by debris, Bickford said.
Though he said the cause of the fire was still under investigation, Bickford said that they are looking at the possibility that an appliance caught fire when power was restored to the Dalton home. The Daltons’ had been without power since Tropical Storm Irene swept through the area Sunday.
The Daltons’ neighbor, Albert Gray, confirmed that the power had just returned before the fire was said to have started.
Though the home is still standing, the interior suffered substantial fire and water damage, Bickford said.
