RUMFORD — Faulty wiring was to blame for a structure fire early Wednesday morning at 11 Cemetery Road, Fire Chief Robert Chase said.
The Rumford Fire Department took the call at 11:50 p.m. Tuesday, Chase said.
“The call came in as a gentleman reporting that there was a fire in the walls of his home,” he said.
Rumford and Mexico fire departments responded to the scene, along with Med-Care Ambulance.
After the Rumford Police Department arrived and saw smoke and flames from outside the house, Chase said, additional manpower and tankers were requested from Andover and Woodstock.
The homeowner, his girlfriend and three children, got out of the house, and no one was injured, Chase said.
Chase said the fire was under control in about 45 minutes, though it took an additional hour to dig the fire out of some of the concealed spaces and put out the hot spots.
Chase said the department’s investigation found that the fire was caused by faulty wiring in an outlet at the top of a staircase leading from the first floor to the second floor.
Chase lauded the officers for “a really good stop.”
The house was saved, he said.
“The officers were able to do a lot of salvage operations, in terms of moving or covering up personal belongings so they weren’t destroyed or soaked by the water from the hose. They did a really good job knocking it down.”
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