BROOKSVILLE, Maine — A local family has been displaced by a fire that damaged their home Monday night, according to the local fire chief.
A house at 1875 Coastal Road, owned by Carrie Snow-Munson, caught fire after creosote in the chimney ignited and the flames spread into abutting structural beams, Chief Matt Dow said Tuesday evening. Snow-Munson and her husband had a wood boiler in the basement and have been burning softwood in it, Dow said, which resulted in creosote buildup in the chimney.
“That was the only source of heat they had,” the fire chief said of the wood boiler.
The residents were home and called to report the fire around 6 p.m. The heat from the spreading flames cracked the chimney, rendering it unusable, and extended into the wall and floor surrounding the chimney on the main floor of the house, according to Dow.
Approximately 15 to 20 firefighters from Brooksville, Sedgwick and Penobscot quickly knocked down the flames, Dow said. The first to arrive were delayed slightly because they could not see the address number on the snow-covered mailbox, he said, but the brief confusion did not make a significant difference in the response time.
Within 2½ hours, the blaze was fully extinguished, Dow said. The wind likely would have resulted in much more extensive damage to the house if the flames had penetrated the exterior wall, he said. The cold was not an issue because firefighters kept water circulating in the trucks to prevent it from freezing.
Dow said the fire department contacted a local plumber who drained the pipes before the water in them froze. He said he has been told the house was not insured.
The couple told the fire chief that they, their two young children and their pet fish and turtle will stay in the area with relatives until they can repair the home on their own and move back in, Dow said.
