SKOWHEGAN — A mobile home fire that severely burned a mother and her young son on Friday started in the boy’s bedroom, a state fire investigator said Wednesday.

Andrea Curtis, 24, who lived in the mobile home, remains hospitalized at Maine Medical Center in Portland. Her son, Tyler Curtis-Benson, 4, has been at Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston since they were pulled from the fire just before 8:30 p.m. Friday by Skowhegan police Officer Tim Williams.

Curtis’ cousin, Tylene Bergeron, said both mother and son are improving.

“She’s better today, much better,” Bergeron said Wednesday. “They’re coming around. Andrea is still critical, but she is much better than she was. She’s doing really good compared to what she was doing. Tyler has improved a lot and is off the ventilator, finally.

“Andrea will have a long road of recovery. So will her little boy.”

Sgt. Ken Grime’s of the state Fire Marshal’s Office said investigators know where the fire started, but still don’t know how. He said investigator Stu Jacobs returned to the fire scene Wednesday at 279 North Ave. in Skowhegan to look for evidence.

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“We’re having some difficulty classifying the fire as far as what actually caused it,” Grimes said Wednesday. “We were back up there on scene today with the electrical inspectors taking a look at some electrical appliances, so we’re still picking away at it.”

Bergeron said Curtis has burns over 60 percent of her body and lost the skin on her face, but is improving, as is her son, who has burns over 40 percent of his body.

A Shriners Hospital spokesperson would not release information about the boy’s condition. A hospital spokesman at Maine Medical Center in Portland did not return calls immediately Wednesday for an update on Curtis’ condition.

Williams, 51, the police officer, said he was just doing his job when he crawled through thick smoke into the burning mobile home to pull the two unconscious people to safety.

Curtis, a full-time student at University of Maine at Farmington, is studying education and plans to become a teacher when she graduates in the spring, her cousin said. She said a GoFundMe page has been set up for Curtis and her family, who lost everything in the fire. Curtis’ husband, Tyler’s stepfather, Brian Armstrong, was at work when the fire broke out Friday night.

By Wednesday afternoon, a total of $6,780 had been raised on the GoFundMe page, with a goal of $20,000.

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Bergeron said Curtis paid cash for the mobile home but rented the lot where it stood. She said the family is not insured and doesn’t know where they will live once Curtis and her son are released from the hospital.

Bergeron said of her cousin: “They lost everything. They need everything.”

Bryan Armstrong needs 32-inch waist, 32-inch length pants and men’s medium tops. Tyler and Curtis can wear only white clothing when they are released to prevent infection, she said. Tyler wears a size 6 boys’ clothing.

The Kennebec Valley Inn in Skowhegan is hosting a benefit spaghetti supper for the family from noon until 6 p.m. Dec.17.

A donation of $7 per plate will include salad, spaghetti and beverage, according to the inn’s Facebook page. There will be no alcohol sales during the event so visitors can bring their children. A silent auction also will take place.

The Full Drive Band, featuring Nashville singer-songwriter and 2005 Rockabilly Hall of Fame member Eddie Lee Van Zant is scheduled to perform from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., after the dinner. Van Zant will be selling autographed pictures with all proceeds going to Curtis and her son.


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