POLAND — The quick arrival of emergency responders saved a local house from destruction after it caught fire early Monday afternoon, Poland fire and rescue Chief Mark Bosse said.

A generator that was used as the main source of electricity for the home at 61 White Oak Hill Road was the source of the 1:30 p.m. blaze, Bosse said. A small structure built around the generator to protect it from the weather caught fire, which then spread to the wooden siding on the home.

The flames climbed up the side of the building, reaching an airspace at the peak of the roof and entering the upper level of the house, Bosse said. The generator room was destroyed.

The owner was home when the fire broke out and called 911, Bosse said. Poland firefighters were on the scene three minutes after receiving notification of fire, he said. They were joined by firefighters from Oxford.

Firefighters doused the roof and house with water, knocking down the flames quickly. The side of the building was visibly charred, and water draining down through the house from the roof contributed to about $12,000 damage, Bosse said.

The damage was largely confined to one side of the building, Bosse said, and the home owner, whose name was not available Monday night, was not displaced by the blaze.

“If it weren’t for the quick response time . . . it could have been a lot worse,” Bosse said.

The home is about 1,300 feet off of the road and had not yet been connected to the electrical grid, Bosse said.

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