NEW SHARON – A home at 20 Blackberry Lane in New Sharon was destroyed in a fire early Sunday morning and seven people were left homeless.
Five fire departments responded to a report of flames coming from the roof of a home at 12:20 a.m. Fire departments from New Sharon, Farmington, Wilton, Chesterville and Temple sent firefighters as well as tanker trucks and other apparatus to attack the blaze, which was fully involved when firefighters arrived.
Neighbor K. Scott Morrison looked out his window when he thought he heard thunder and saw flames coming from the garage of the home belonging to the Dapolito family, according to Stan Wheeler of the Farmington Fire Department, who had spoken with Morrison at the scene.
Morrison tried to call the residence to tell the family to get out of the house. They were in Gorham at a family function but received the 1 a.m. phone call forwarded to Dapolito’s cell phone.
It took firefighters about one hour to get the blaze under control. Firefighters’ initial search of the home found nobody there. They were relieved when Morrison reported that they were away.
By most reports, the house was completely destroyed, and there was little that was salvageable, said New Sharon Fire Chief Jeffrey Brackett. Robert Dapolito, his wife, Jessica, their two sons, Patrick, 14, and Casey, 6, and a 21-year-old wheelchair-bound mentally disabled foster son will be staying with relatives in Gorham, said Wheeler, Farmington’s Fire Department chaplain. He said he had also contacted the American Red Cross for assistance.
In addition to the Dapolito family, a recently married couple lost their home in the fire.
Dave and Tirzah Lanoie, married only a few weeks ago, rented a basement apartment in the home and lost most of their possessions in the blaze, including about $400 in nursing textbooks. Tirzah had just started nursing school at University of Maine in Augusta, said Wheeler. They, too, will be staying with relatives.
The fire apparently started in the garage. Fire inspectors were on the scene by 4 a.m., said Brackett, and although the blaze is still under investigation, a faulty ballast in a fluorescent light is suspected as causing the fire. It appears that the ballast ignited building materials in the ceiling of the attached garage, which quickly spread to the house because there was no Sheetrock barrier between the garage and living area of the house. Sheetrock can act as a fire barrier, said Brackett.
Dapolito also has a mill operation on the property at which Dave Lanoie is an employee. The business was not damaged in the incident.
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