Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Fire destroys Gorham home, barn

The residents escape without injury, but three cars explode and 5,000 homes lose power.

From staff reports

Update

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An excavator clears hot spots where a large barn once stood after last night's fire destroyed this Gorham home and barn. No injuries were reported but several pets were killed.

John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

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Gorham firefighters vent the roof of a home at 682 Gray Road during a fire that could be seen about a half-mile away Thursday. Firefighters from Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Buxton and Windham were called in to assist, and some were still at the scene at 11:30 p.m.

Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

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State investigators plan to analyze the electrical system recovered from the barn at 8 Newell St. in Gorham that burned to the ground Thursday night along with the attached house.

The fire appears to have started in the corner of the barn where the electrical panel was, said Gorham Deputy Fire Chief Ken Fickett.

The fire does not appear suspicious, Fickett said, but investigators from the state Fire Marshal's Office are being thorough in part because the home’s owner, Ronald Meserve, was charged in June with possession of child pornography, and they want to rule out anything criminal.

Meserve, 63, is free on bail pending trial or a plea agreement.

Meserve, his wife and three of their son’s friends were in the home when the fire broke out at 8 p.m. All escaped safely. A dog and five or six cats died in the fire, Fickett said.

Update

Fire crews remained this morning at the scene of a spectacular fire that destroyed a house and barn Thursday night.

Gorham fire officials met with investigators from the state fire marshal’s office this morning to try to determine the cause of the fire.

Several pets were killed in the blaze but the four people home at the time were not injured.

Workers used heavy equippment to level the buildings and search for hot spots that could flare up.

Thursday's fire occurred at the same location, 8 Newell St., where a man was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography last year.

Ronald Meserve, 63, was charged in June with possessing pornogrpahy depicting someone younger than 12.

Meserve shared the duplex with a day-care center, run by a family member. Investigators said at the time there was no indication any of the children cared for there were involved. Meserve is free on bail pending a trial or a plea agreement, police said.

The house is listed in Gorham assessing records as being owned by Ronald Meserve. It was built in 1900 and was worth $118,000.

As firefighters responded Thursday night, Central Maine Power Co. shut down power at a substation to eliminate the chance of firefighters being electrocuted.

The power was cut at 8 p.m., leaving 5,300 customers in the dark. By 8:40 p.m., service to most customers had been restored by relying on distribution lines that bypassed the burning home. Everyone had been restored by 9:40 p.m., said CMP spopkesman John Carroll.

1 a.m.

Thousands of residents in Gorham, Standish and Windham lost power Thursday night because of a fire that destroyed a home and attached barn in the Little Falls section of Gorham.

At least four people were in the home at 682 Gray Road when the fire broke out in the barn around 8 p.m. All of them escaped uninjured, but several pets were killed.

Three cars that were parked next to the home caught fire, and witnesses said the cars exploded.

Authorities said the intersection of routes 202 and 237 was shut down for several hours as firefighters tried to control the fire.

A dispatcher for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said flames from the fire could be seen from the dispatch center in Windham, about a half-mile away. The dispatch center used its emergency backup power system after electricity was cut off.

A spokesman for Central Maine Power Co. said electricity to more than 5,000 homes had to be shut down as a precaution to protect fire crews. All power had been restored by 9:40 p.m.

Firefighters from Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Buxton and Windham were called in to assist the Gorham Fire Department. Firefighters were still at the scene at 11:30 p.m.

The state Fire Marshal's Office has been called in to help determine the cause of the fire.

Staff Photographer Gregory Rec contributed to this report.

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

dhoey@pressherald.com