BREWER, Maine — Four people were rescued from a burning house by a Brewer police officer and a passer-by on Tuesday afternoon.
The rescuers cut through the screen on the outer front door of the home at 74 South Brewer Drive and helped the occupants through it to safety, Brewer Public Safety Director Perry Antone said. The front door and steps were blocked by snow, and a side entrance through the garage was not accessible, Antone said.
Antone said that most of the damage was contained to the garage and an attached room, though the main house only had some smoke and water damage. A car parked just outside the garage also was damaged.
Antone said that no one was injured, although at least one of the individuals suffered minor smoke inhalation.
The owner, Sallie Morancie, her daughter, another adult woman and an adult grandson, whose names were not immediately available, were in the house when the fire began shortly before 12:45 p.m.
Morancie’s late husband, Bernard “Terry” Morancie, served the city of Brewer as a public safety dispatcher for several years, Brewer City Manager Stephen Bost said Tuesday.
Andy Field, owner of SoundShapers Inc., a car audio system sales and installation business located in Brewer, was on his way back to work after picking up lunch when he spotted smoke in the sky.
Field said he arrived at the fire about the same time as Brewer police Officer Mike Wilson, and the two worked together to help the occupants out of the house through the top section of a screen door and then over the snow to the sidewalk.
Field said that the people inside already had called 911 for help when he and Wilson showed up.
“Part of the issue was that at least one occupant appeared disabled and had to be carried out on a blanket,” Field said. “The snow wasn’t too deep, but disability and one person with no shoes made it a challenge. Scary for a few minutes!”
Field downplayed his role in the rescue operation on Tuesday afternoon.
He said Wilson climbed up the steps and helped the person be carried out on the blanket.
“Basically, I held an old lady’s hand and helped her get through the snow,” Field said.
“It stinks because I drove by there five minutes earlier while I was going to Tozier’s [Market on Wilson Street] for lunch and on the way back I saw it. If I’d been two minutes earlier, I could have pushed their car back and saved it,” he said.
Members of the Brewer Fire Department went to the home, along with crews from Bangor, Orrington and Holden. Eddington firefighters provided station coverage in Brewer during the fire, while Dedham firefighters remained on standby.
The state fire marshal’s office was called to help determine the fire’s origin and cause, and the Red Cross was called in to assist the homeowner.
South Brewer Drive was blocked to traffic for a few hours after the fire. It was later reopened, a Penobscot Regional Communications emergency dispatcher said.