SOUTH THOMASTON, Maine — The state fire marshal’s office is continuing its investigation into a fire that gutted a house and injured a resident Thursday evening.
Sgt. Ken Grimes of the Maine fire marshal’s office said Friday that investigators are waiting to interview the injured man whose name has not been released and who is being treated for burns at Maine Medical Center in Portland. He did not have an update on the man’s condition.
Grimes said the fire appears to have started in the kitchen of the house located at the end of Field Street, a narrow unpaved road off Dublin Road, but no additional information would be released until the investigation is completed.
Ruth Barter, wife of building owner Don Barter of Jefferson, said Friday that the house was being rented out and that a young man who is about 20 years old was injured when something he was cooking on the stove exploded.
She declined to name the man but said he is not the renter. She also declined to name the renter.
She said that when she and her husband went to the house Thursday night, they learned that the man had used a fire extinguisher and believed he had put out the flames.
The man’s girlfriend then insisted that he go to the hospital, and she drove him to Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport, according to Barter. She said the man then was flown by LifeFlight to MMC.
Barter said the house is insured and an insurance adjustor was expected to arrive next week.
Authorities have not said who called in the fire, but flames were shooting out of the upper story windows when it was reported shortly after 4 p.m., about 20 minutes after the man and his girlfriend had left to go to the hospital.
Firefighters from South Thomaston, Thomaston, Rockland, Owls Head, St. George, Cushing and Warren battled the blaze.
A nearby child care center Little Learners Childcare also is located on the road. The center was not evacuated during the fire as previously reported, but parents were notified by the center staff that they would have to park at either the library or post office and walk to the center to pick up their children.