A multimillion-dollar house on Prouts Neck in Scarborough was destroyed and a home in the middle of town was heavily damaged in two separate fires reported within a minute of each other Saturday morning.

The fires were reported at 5:41 a.m. at 29 Winslow Homer Road on Prouts Neck, in the heart of the exclusive oceanfront neighborhood, and at 6:09 a.m. at an unoccupied house at 38 Westwood Ave. near the middle of town off Route 1.

A man and a woman at the Prouts Neck home – which is owned by Kenyon Bolton III, according to town records – escaped the fire from a second-floor window of the multilevel structure, Fire Chief Michael Thurlow said. He said both were injured while trying to escape. They were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with non-life threatening injuries. Their identities were not available from the fire department.

The home is located near the Winslow Homer Studio at 5 Winslow Homer Road, owned by the Portland Museum of Art and open for public tours during parts of the year.

The 12-room house at 29 Winslow Homer Road, built in 1971, was valued at $4.2 million by the Scarborough Assessor’s Office. Thurlow said firefighters managed to save several outbuildings on the property and kept the blaze from spreading to other homes nearby.

About 50 firefighters battled the blaze. There were no other injuries. Thurlow said the fire was difficult to fight because the home is located on a narrow road.

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Thurlow said the fire at Westwood Avenue had been burning for some time before it was discovered, making it difficult to extinguish for the 30 firefighters at the scene. The eight-room building, built in 1900, was valued at $262,400 by the Scarborough Assessor’s Office.

Sgt. Joel Davis of the State Fire Marshal’s Office said both fires are being investigated. Davis said Saturday afternoon investigators were trying first to determine where each of the fires started before trying to determine the causes. He said the fires were unrelated.

Neither fire has been ruled suspicious at this point, fire officials said.

“It was coincidental that there were two this morning,” said Davis.

Firefighters from eight nearby communities helped Scarborough with the fires.

Beth Quimby can be reached at 791-6363 or at:

bquimby@pressherald.com


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