Four people escaped a fire that consumed a Hampden home this weekend because one of them happened to make a middle-of-the-night trip to the bathroom.
Because of the damage done by the fire, which started early Saturday morning in the Main Road North home, it wasn’t clear if there had been smoke detectors in the home, Lt. Jason Lundstrom of the Hampden Fire Department said Sunday afternoon. If there were smoke detectors, they don’t seem have been noticed by the residents.
“It appears as though none of them heard smoke detectors,” Lundstrom said. “One individual woke up to go to the bathroom and was alerted to the situation.”
The four people who were living in the home got out, along with two dogs. Two cats appear to have been lost in the blaze, Lundstrom said.
The fire was reported just after 3 a.m., and in addition to the Hampden Fire Department, crews from Bangor, Hermon, Levant, Newburgh, Winterport and Holden also came out to fight it. It was a frigid night, Lundstrom said, with temperatures dipping down to about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. It took the roughly 25 or so people several hours to extinguish the blaze.
“Our mutual aid departments, we are thankful for that type of response. It’s teamwork,” he said. “I know that manpower is an issue all over the place. But it’s a situation where the surrounding towns are willing to help.”
Although a portion of the house is still standing, there was significant fire destruction, Lundstrom said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and by the middle of the week, officials should have a better idea of what happened.