SANFORD — A 53-year-old Sanford man died Sunday morning in a fire that destroyed his home, an attached garage and two sheds, a spokesman for the State Fire Marshal’s Office said.

Investigators determined that Charles Kerrigan died in the fire at 234 Deering Neighborhood Road, located in the Springvale neighborhood of Sanford, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said Sunday night.

Kerrigan’s body was found inside the garage where he “was known to work on projects,” McCausland said. Kerrigan lived alone in the two-story wood-frame home, located in a rural section of the city.

The cause of the fire, which appears to have started in the garage, remains under investigation, but may never be known because of the extent of damage caused by the fast-moving blaze, McCausland said.

“The house and the garage burned flat to the ground,” McCausland said.

When Sanford firefighters arrived shortly after 10 a.m., the home, garage and sheds were engulfed in flames, Sanford Fire Department Capt. Brian Watkins said. Watkins said heat generated by the fire was intense.

“There were no hydrants in the area, so we had to call for mutual aid help,” Watkins said.

Nearly a dozen neighboring fire departments responded, but it still took about an hour to bring the fire, which had spread to nearby woods, under control.

The victim’s body was not discovered until after the fire had been extinguished, Watkins said. Sanford notified the State Fire Marshal’s Office, which took over the investigation.

Firefighters had to set up a tanker relay, drawing water from a location near the intersection of Deering Neighborhood Road and Route 109 and offloading it into a dump tank at the end of the driveway.

The home is situated down a narrow dirt driveway.

Hoses were laid to ferry water to the blaze. A firetruck was parked partway down the driveway.

McCausland said the state medical examiner’s office is scheduled to examine Kerrigan’s body Monday.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444, at 282-1535, ext. 327, or:

twells@journaltribune.com