LINCOLN, Maine – A passer-by who saw smoke and called 911 probably saved a split-level ranch home on Transalpine Road from total destruction in a fire on Monday. No injuries were reported, firefighters said.
No one was home when the 911 call regarding the fire at 345 Transalpine Road came in to Bangor’s Penobscot Regional Communication Center shortly after 5 p.m., Lincoln Fire Chief Phil Dawson said.
Howland, Lincoln and Mattawamkeag firefighters fought the fire. When the first of them arrived, the smoke was pouring from the eaves of the house, which will now need to be gutted but is probably still salvageable, Dawson said.
“They did a great job, made a nice stop, but there is still a significant amount of damage — some structural, but mostly smoke,” Dawson said Monday.
Firefighters closed the road to fight the fire, causing a traffic jam on Transalpine that stretched northwest for about a half mile beyond Rocky Brook Road.
Firefighters searched the entire residence for people and traced the smoke to the basement, where the fire apparently began, and doused it there.
Firefighters said they rescued two dogs, the only occupants of the home at the time of the blaze, without any problems. With the nearest hydrant at Penobscot Valley Hospital, several miles away, firefighters used tanker trucks to shuttle water from the hydrant to the house, Dawson said.
The homeowner, Susan Custis, declined to comment on the fire.
Firefighters saw nothing suspicious about the fire, but alerted the state fire marshal’s office due to the heavy property damage it caused, Dawson said.