February 19

Fire destroys Maine home; three cats missing

The Sidney homeowner says workers repairing her furnace were on a break when the fire started.

By KAITLIN SCHROEDER Morning Sentinel

SIDNEY – A River Road woman lost her home and possibly three cats to fire Tuesday afternoon.

click image to enlarge

A firefighter can be seen through burned out windows and walls while fighting a fire that destroyed a mobile home Tuesday in Sidney, Maine.

David Leaming / Staff Photographer

Barbara St. Pierre, 69, said she smelled smoke and found flames that reached the ceiling when she went to the far end of her mobile home.

She called 911 after she left her home with her dog and one of her cats, but three other cats remained inside and are still missing, she said.

When firefighters arrived at the scene around 12:15 p.m., the home was engulfed in smoke and flames were coming through a cap in the roof, according to Sidney Fire Chief Richard Jandraeu.

St. Pierre said she was having her furnace repaired Tuesday morning.

The workers were on a lunch break when she discovered the fire in the room where the furnace was, she said.

The state Fire Marshal's Office is investigating.

Jandraeu said about 20 firefighters from Sidney, Belgrade, Oakland and Winslow responded to the fire call, as did a Delta Ambulances crew.

The home, at 2835 River Road, was insured, St. Pierre said.

Her son Lenny St. Pierre said his mother will live with him for now. He said he left work to be with his mother and is relieved she made it out of her home uninjured.

"That's what's most important. Everything else can be replaced," he said.

 

Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Kaitlin Schroeder can be contacted at 861-9252 or at:

kschroeder@mainetoday.com

 

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