An unattended candle in a basement room caused a home fire in Poland early Monday morning, Poland Fire Chief Mark Bosse said.
The home’s residents, as well as several visiting guests, all escaped the burning house uninjured after a smoke alarm was set off, Bosse said. The fire was contained to the basement, he said, although smoke damage spread throughout the house.
“We knocked the fire down and had it under control fairly quickly, within half an hour of getting there,” Bosse said. The private road the house is on made it challenging for fire trucks to reach the scene, he said.
Four area fire departments responded to the scene, including Poland, Mechanic Falls, Raymond and Oxford. A total of five trucks and about 25 men arrived to battle the 7:15 a.m. blaze, Bosse said.
Poland firefighters remained on the scene until 11:30 a.m., checking the house for hidden fires and investigating the cause with State Fire Marshal Office officials, determining that the fire started when items near a lit candle on a shelf in the basement caught on fire.
“We’re all guilty of it, I’m sure,” Bosse said. “But no one should ever leave a candle unattended.”
The home is still livable, Bosse said, but will need to be cleaned by a professional service, and some floors may need to be replaced. The house was insured, and the family seemed optimistic that they would be able to deal with the damage quickly, he said.
The names of the house’s owners were not available Monday evening.
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- Smoke pours from the basement of 50 Watson Road in Poland early Monday morning. Firefighters from four departments, including Poland, Raymond, Mechanic Falls and Oxford responded to the fire, which was caused by an unattended candle, Poland Fire Chief Mark Bosse said. Damage from the fire was limited mainly to the basement, although smoke damage was apparent throughout the home.
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