A Portland woman was badly burned in a house fire Sunday in North Deering.

When firefighters arrived at the house shortly before noon, they found the victim, a woman in her 50s, outside. She was the only person in the house at the time.

She was taken to Maine Medical Center and later taken via a LifeFlight helicopter to a hospital in the Boston area, according to Portland Fire Chief Jerome LaMoria.

The house at 250 Burnside Ave. was extensively damaged, he said. It is the only house on the dead-end road, which is off Ray Street.

The name of the victim has not been released. City tax records indicate that the six-room house, built in 1934, is owned by Julia Ball.

When firefighters arrived at the house, they first had to dig out a fire hydrant that had been buried in snow from Saturday’s storm.

Advertisement

LaMoria said a dozen additional firefighters were deployed Sunday to help the department dig out the 2,500 public and private fire hydrants in the city.

The storm dropped a record 31.9 inches of snow in Portland.

“Some of the hydrants are rather easy, and some of them are rather challenging to locate and dig out,” LaMoria said. “We are certainly encouraging residents to assist by finding the hydrants closest to their houses and making sure they are accessible to use.”

Firefighters on Sunday were able to quickly bring the fire at Burnside Avenue under control after digging out the hydrant, he said.

The Portland Fire Department’s investigation unit and the Maine Fire Marshal’s office are investigating the cause of the fire.

Tom Bell can be contacted at 791- 6369 or at:

tbell@mainetoday.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.