Fire destroys Thorndike home across the street from fire station

THORNDIKE, Maine — A two-story house across the street from the Thorndike Fire Department was destroyed Sunday in an early morning fire.

Firefighters, however, were able to save the home next door, located only 15 feet away, Thorndike fire Capt. Henry Chaffee said Sunday morning in a telephone interview.

Chaffee said that the fire at 96 Gordon Hill Road began shortly before 4 a.m. and that the couple who lived there and their dog escaped safely.

Their names were not immediately available, Chaffee said.

He said that the Red Cross has been notified.

It was not clear Sunday how the fire began. The state fire marshal’s has been asked to help pinpoint the fire’s origin and cause.

An estimated 40 firefighters from Thorndike, Unity, Troy, Montville, Jackson, Freedom, Liberty, Brooks and Monroe responded, Chaffee said. None of them were injured.

Chaffee said the house was insured.