A four-alarm fire destroyed a home in Brunswick on Friday and sent a resident and a firefighter to the hospital.

Fire crews from 17 or 18 departments, from Harpswell to South Portland, responded to the fire at 246 Coombs Road, said Brunswick Fire Chief Ken Brillant.

He said the intense heat of the fire, combined with Friday’s hot and humid weather, quickly exhausted firefighters, forcing officials to repeatedly request additional manpower from neighboring towns.

“It just wiped us out,” he said. “Between the heat from the fire — it was a really hot fire — and the weather and all the gear you are wearing, it really saps the strength right out of you.”

A man and a woman lived in the house, said Brillant, who did not have their names. The man was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, treated and released.

Brillant said a firefighter was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion.

He said the first fire call came in at 3:17 p.m., and the fire was not brought under control until after 6 p.m.

He said the home was a big, old farmhouse and it was difficult to fight the fire because the roof had four layers of asphalt shingles. Firefighters had to cut off most of the roof to reach the hot spots.

Brillant said the fire began on the first floor and quickly spread to the attic. “Everything is pretty much destroyed,” he said.

He said the fire started in a dryer vent.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:

tbell@pressherald.com