BANGOR, Maine — James and Wendy Shea had just five payments left on the mortgage of their house at 108 Third St. when the second floor and attic were gutted by fire Thursday afternoon.
It was the second fire on Third Street in less than 16 hours. Number 62, an apartment building, was heavily damaged by a blaze reported shortly after midnight, according to the Bangor Fire Department. All five tenants escaped injury.
Shortly after 4 p.m., the Sheas and their tenant, Susan Savage, huddled across the street from the two-story home they shared. They watched and waited while Bangor firefighters knocked out the second story windows after battling back the blaze.
The couple had lived in the house for 29 years, James Shea said.
Beneath her flannel shirt, Wendy Shea held a small, white rabbit against her chest, hoping the rest of her warren had survived.
“There are five adults and four other little ones on the first floor,” she said of the rabbits. “I ran in and out twice to try to get them, but the last time I was almost hit by some burning, falling wood.”
Once the blaze was out, Assistant Fire Chief Tom Higgins said that his crew had checked on the rabbits on the first floor.
“They’re still in their cages and they seem fine,” he told reporters.
Higgins said about 9:30 p.m. that one rabbit on the second floor had died, but all those on the first floor had been saved.
James Shea said the fire started about 3:30 p.m. after he had been soldering some pipes in a second-floor bathroom. He went downstairs for supper, then heard the smoke alarms go off.
“I tried to put it out with the hose, but couldn’t,” Shea said
The homeowner said that his house was not insured.
The earlier fire on Third Street started in a second floor apartment of a three-story building and crews were able to contain it to that unit, Assistant Chief Rick Cheverie said.
“I would say it gutted out [that] entire apartment 100 percent,” Cheverie said. “All of the tenants are going to be displaced for the foreseeable future.”
The cause of the fire had not been determined as of noon Thursday.
The building’s owner, Brandon Donovan of Virginia Beach, has insurance, according to Cheverie.
Higgins said Thursday afternoon that the two fires were not related and their proximity to each other was “a coincidence.”
Most of the tenants who lived in the apartment building are staying with friends and relatives in the area, while one has reached out to the Red Cross for assistance, according to Bangor fire officials. The Sheas and Savage reached out to the Red Cross for assistance.
Ryan McLaughlin contributed to this report.
Now this is a old house, the owner has done several repairs to it, from renting to people with disablilties to fixing up his own portion. Hope everyone is ok
I knew this home owner personally and his character and the story about him by bangor daily needs a fact check.
Poor women standing there weeping, damned near hysterical, and the reporter had to comment that the rabbits were okay. ACK!
PETA is watching.
Jimmy & Susan are some great people. I hope it all works out for the best.
;) perfectly worded.
Supper at 3:30?
Geese another fire
Rabbits not Geese.
Just before Christmas and no insurance. I feel so bad for these people :(
I wish they would list an address for donations.
Dawn, if you have donations i would believe Peter at the Bangor Rescue Mission would take them and give them to them. He is pretty good and she has volunteered there before. I am taking a cash donation down this week to him
Thank you, I will look into that. Not from Bangor, but that seems easy to find.
Should be easy, its there house, then a white two story building and then Bangor Rescue Mission, ask for Peter
Save your charity for the Sandy Hook Elem.
I’d donate to another charity. Charactor and facts are important.
How do you have a mortgage and not insurance? Probably would be less than $50 month.
I agree.
Not everyone has insurance on there house, some people can not afford it. This couple just lost a home and all you care about is insurance, nice of you to think
If they can afford to feed a bunch of rabbits they should be able to afford insurance. Personal responsibility has gone out the window.
This really sucks, been through 2 fires and lost everything before I knew about renters insurance.
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I think having a house, particularly a commercial venture such as an apartment house, with NO insurance is a GREAT idea. Good thinking! I mean who needs insurance, they can just start all over again right?
The Shea’s? I don’t believe Wendy would get married again after mr Frederick devlin. Bangor daily would you like to check into the facts on this one?
I have zero idea why these people did not have insurance. However I am renter and on a fixed income I have renters insurance. My landlord who has insurance asked me why I did. I said because if something should happen it 1. shows I am a responsible person. 2. my insurance will cover the basic items I need to replace. 3. I do it for my own peace of mind.
So if you do not have renters or homeowners insurance please look into getting a policy. Mine costs about 8 dollars a month, I do not have the highest coverage amount but this policy suits my needs.
One other thing I was told and this was by the MDV and a town clerk was get a safety deposit box to have copies or the originals of long form of my birth certificate, copies of insurance papers and on an index card list any important information about myself. This makes sense to me and I am going to do it. Yes getting a and paying for a safety deposit box is going to be one more bill to pay however for my piece of mine and less worrying it will be worth. No more candy bars for me this year.
No matter what the reason – losing your home or apartment is sad.