Robert and Amy Mosher and their sons, Collin, 13, left, and Brayden, 11, third from left, are staying at a Wilton hotel after fire destroyed their home in Livermore Falls on Tuesday night. Amy’s uncle, Peter Dyer, 65, died in the fire, officials said. (Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal)
LIVERMORE FALLS — A police officer and family helped save the lives Tuesday night of two brothers who jumped from a burning three-story house on Main Street.
The fire claimed the life of Peter Dyer, 65, who lived on the first floor, officials said.
Dyer’s niece, Amy Mosher, 35, said Wednesday that she and her husband, Robert, 35, and their sons Collin, 13, and Brayden, 11, rented the house at 100 Main St. Family friend Tori Lebel lived with them, she said.
Robert Mosher said Wednesday night that he and Dyer were standing outside talking about baseball about 30 minutes before flames consumed the house, which was more than 200 years old.
Collin Mosher, 13, pushed a screen out of a third-floor window Tuesday night and assisted his brother, Brayden, 11, onto the roof of a second-story bay window to escape their burning house on Main Street in Livermore Falls. The boys jumped to an overhang above the front door and then to the ground. Both boys were injured, their parents Robert and Amy Mosher said Wednesday. A family member died in the fire. (Donna M. Perry, Sun Journal)
Mosher said investigators believe the fire started in the living room on the first floor.
Amy Mosher said she, her husband and Lebel were on the second floor when they heard the smoke alarms at about 7 p.m. Their sons were on the third floor, she said.
Robert Mosher said he crawled to the stairway to the third floor, but could not go up to get his sons because the smoke was too thick. He and Amy yelled to the boys, who answered them.
They told the boys to go out through a window.
“We had them jump. That was the only way they were getting out,” Robert Mosher said Wednesday night.
The couple and Lebel escaped through a back stairway on the second floor.
Collin pushed a third-floor window screen out and helped his brother onto a second-floor roof, according to their mother. From there, the brothers jumped to the roof over a bay window and then to an overhang above the front door.
When Collin jumped to the ground, Sgt. Vernon Stevens dove to catch him, Robert Mosher said.
He said he dove for Brayden, who landed partially on him and partially on the ground.
“I almost jumped face first into the fire trying to catch him,” Robert Mosher said.
Brayden required 20 to 30 stitches on his left hand, and was treated for a sprained ankle and facial wounds. His middle finger was sliced to the bone, which is believed to have happened when he hit the overhang, his mother said.
Robert Mosher said Brayden was being admitted to a Portland hospital Wednesday night for surgery on his hand.
Collin suffered a sprained wrist and a large bruise on his back, his mother said.
Stevens suffered abrasions and was taken to the hospital, Police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. said.
Both boys and Tori Lebel were treated for smoke inhalation at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, where Lebel remained Wednesday, according to the family.
Amy Mosher said that when she tried to get Dyer out of the front room on the first floor she was forced back by smoke.
“When we were trying to get Peter out, I tried to get back in, but I couldn’t see him anywhere,” said Amy Mosher, as she started to cry.
“We’re very thankful to be alive,” she said. “I can’t thank my oldest (son) enough for saving his brother.”
The family said they had no insurance on their belongings.
“We need everything,” she said. “We need a place to live. We lost everything.”
For now, they are staying at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Wilton and the American Red Cross is assisting them. Family and friends brought clothes and food to them Wednesday afternoon.
Collin, an eighth-grader at Spruce Mountain Middle School in Jay, wears size 34-30 pants and a large or extra-large shirt.
Brayden, a fourth-grader at Spruce Mountain Elementary School in Jay, wears size 12 to 14 pants and shirts.
Anyone wishing to donate should call Robert Mosher at 491-2264.
He said the home is owned by Percy Tesse, whose last known residence was on Cape Cod. Mosher said attempts to reach him Wednesday were unsuccessful.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
Livermore Falls Police Sgt. Vernon Stevens helped save a boy who jumped Tuesday night from the roof of a second-story bay window at a burning house on Main Street in Livermore Falls. A family member died in the fire.(Warren Forbes photo)
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