NORWAY — State fire investigators are expected to return to 55 Harry Bell Road Thursday to try to determine what caused James and Marguerite Alberi’s two-story farmhouse to burn to the ground Wednesday morning, fire Chief Dennis Yates said.

The couple were not home when the fire broke out and there were no injuries.

Yates said it’s possible the cause will never be determined because of the extensive damage. He said he does not believe the fire was suspicious.

Dozens of firefighters from 11 towns responded to the call shortly after noon, but it was too late to save the house, Yates said.

“I think it was going some time before we got called,” he said. “By the time we got there, it was a massive ball of fire.”

He said there was nothing really left to identify what type of house it was.

The nearby garage was not damaged.

Jane Jones of Norway, a friend of the couple, said Wednesday night that she and Marguerite were in Auburn when they got word of the fire.

James Alberi, a retired postal worker, had gone to downtown Norway for a haircut and returned home to discover the house in flames, Jones said. He went to neighbor Art Turner’s home to call for help, she said.

Jones said the couple, who are staying with her for the time being, had no idea what could have caused the blaze and why it engulfed the home so quickly.

Yates said Paris fire Chief Brad Frost, who was at Tim Hortons on Route 26 in Norway with a crew from his department, saw black smoke in the sky and called Yates to ask if he had issued any burn permits.

Yates said none had been issued.

Within moments the fire was called in and firefighters from Norway were joined by others from Paris, West Paris, Oxford, Poland, Harrison, Waterford, Hebron, Bridgton, Woodstock and Greenwood.

A tanker task force also dispatched to provide water for a holding tank at the corner of Emerson Way. There are no fire hydrants in that area of town.

The house, which was described by Alberi’s son, James, as a 19th-century remodeled farmhouse with a farmer’s porch, is about three-tenths of a mile down a private road off Emerson Way. Emerson Way is off of Pleasant Street, which leads to the downtown area.

The house was on about 70 acres of meadow and woodland and graced with old stonewalls and gardens.

An excavator was brought in to pull the remains of the metal roof from the debris so firefighters could get to hot spots. The chimney was knocked down to prevent it from falling and injuring firefighters.

Officials at the scene said the fire was under control at approximately 1:20 p.m. Crews stayed on until about 5 p.m.

The house is valued by the town’s assessor at $109,400 and the Alberis had insurance on it, Jones said. They plan to replace it, she said.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link