LISBON — A man living in a garage apartment on Lisbon Street awoke to a smell of smoke early Thursday and alerted a family that their house was on fire.
Flames destroyed the unattached garage and swept through the front of the house at 381 Lisbon St., forcing three adults and seven children to scurry to safety.
No one was hurt. Fire officials said there were no working smoke detectors inside the home.
Investigators said later in the day that it appeared to have been a smoking-related fire that started in the garage apartment. It was deemed accidental.
Fire crews from several towns battled the 4 a.m. blaze. When they arrived, the garage was engulfed and flames had spread to the front porch of the house, Lisbon Fire Chief Nathan LeClair said.
Fire crews determined that all occupants had safely escaped their burning homes.
“Very fortunate,” LeClair said, “Luckily in this case, the occupant who was residing in the garage woke to see the smoke and then alerted everybody in the house. Especially since there were no smoke detectors in the house or the garage, we are very fortunate.”
The local chapter of the American Red Cross was assisting those who were displaced by the blaze.
LeClair said that while the garage was destroyed by flames, fire damage to the house was mostly confined to the porch area.
“We focused our attention on the house,” the chief said, “and it paid off.”
The house was considered salvageable. A minivan parked in the driveway burned in the fire.
Several people Thursday morning took to Facebook with offers to help the family that was burned out of their home. Sharon Lane, who lived in the house, responded with a post later in the day.
“Thanks everyone for reaching out and asking to help my family,” she wrote. “I can’t explain how grateful I am to live in this community. We all got out safe and that’s what matters most — now it’s time for us to move on as a family and fix our broken pieces.”
Firefighters from Lewiston, Topsham, Sabattus and Durham helped Lisbon get the fire under control. A section of Lisbon Street, between Mill Street and River Road, was closed to traffic for about an hour as emergency crews responded.
The cause of the blaze remained under investigation later Thursday. The home that burned is near the corner of Farnsworth Street.
The occupants of the home at 381 Lisbon St. in Lisbon escaped when fire swept through their home early Friday morning. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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