Martan Ghaderi watched in disbelief Tuesday afternoon as his South Windham home burned, a fire that the state fire marshal’s office has deemed an arson.

According to fire investigator Sgt. Joel Davis, there was an “intentional human element” involved with the fire, though the fire marshal’s office isn’t releasing any further details “because that would compromise the investigation.”

Davis is enlisting the help of the public in the investigation. “If anyone recalls seeing anything, we’re asking them to call the fire marshal’s office at 626-3870,” he said.

At two-stories tall, and situated in a dense collection of former mill houses off High Street between the Keddy Mill and the Maine Correctional Facility in South Windham, the Ghaderi home was part of “Red City,” according to longtime resident and former firefighter Walter Thorpe.

“These houses here on Androscoggin Street were built in the 1920s and are part of what used to be called ‘Red City,’ because they were all painted red,” Thorpe said.

Thorpe, who has lived in a home at the end of Androscoggin Street for 40 years, said the single family homes all suffer from poor fire protection, which led to the flames quickly overtaking the structure.

“It’s balloon construction. There’s no fire barrier between the basement and the first floor, so the flames just go right up through,” Thorpe said.

Watching as firefighters fought back the flames and then tore apart his home exposing additional pockets of fire, Ghaderi wasn’t too concerned with how the flame started, which state fire marshals are investigating. He was thinking about the many personal items he and his family lost, especially photographs of deceased loved ones.

“My wife’s brother’s pictures, my dad’s pictures, gone forever. Documents, pictures (that) never can be replaced,” he said.

Iranian-born Ghaderi was at work, and his wife was at a doctor’s appointment when the fire broke out, so no one was in the home, which neighbor Terri Villacci noted was fully engulfed when she first saw it at about 1 p.m.

“I was making lunch at the time and saw firemen hooking up to the fire hydrant in front of my house. I went out to see what was going on, and the flames had to be 40, 50 feet high,” Villacci said.

Firefighters from Windham, Gorham, Gray, Raymond and Standish fought the blaze for four hours and worked into the night extinguishing smoldering spots, Windham Chief Charles Hammond said. The stench of the ash could still be smelled in the neighborhood into the night.

An adjacent home was spared, but the vinyl siding was mostly melted off exposing insulation underneath.

“It was a physical fire. It’s been a long time since we’ve had to rip every board out to make sure the fire was extinguished. It was a tough day and long night,” Hammond said.

A house fire in South Windham destroyed the home Tuesday afternoon. The State Fire Marshall’s Office has declared the fire arson, and is asking the public in the investigation. (Courtesy photo)