ETNA, Maine — Damage to a mobile home involved in a fire Thursday was limited to about $1,000, thanks to quick response from firefighters from three towns.
Etna Fire Chief Walter Gibbons said Thursday night that the fire at 820 West Plymouth Road was reported shortly before 6 p.m. He said the first crew that arrived from Etna was on the scene within minutes and was able to knock the fire down before it caused serious damage to the home and its contents.
Etna firefighters were joined by their counterparts from Carmel and Stetson, while fire crews from Plymouth and Levant provided backup coverage.
Gibbons said it was not clear what started the fire but that it might have been sparked by an acetylene cutting torch used recently in the process of moving the mobile home. He said the owner, whose name was not immediately available, had purchased a new mobile home and had moved the one she is living in 20 or 30 feet to another spot on her property to make way for the new one.
According to Gibbons, damage to the mobile home was limited to part of an exterior wall, some of the home’s insulation and a portion of the trailer’s underside. Because the woman is in between mobile homes, it was not immediately clear whether the current one is insured, Gibbons said, adding that the fire damage is repair-able.
As a precaution, the woman’s electrical power was shut off until her home’s wiring could be inspected by an electrician, Gibbons said.
Gibbons said that a neighbor, David Whitney, offered to run an extension cord from his home to the woman’s home so that she could run her lights and refrigerator until the electrical inspection is completed.
No one was injured in the fire, Gibbons said.