Fire destroyed a Falmouth home Monday morning that a family was scheduled to move into at the end of the week.

The fire was reported by a newspaper deliver person at 5 a.m. Fire Chief Howard Rice Jr. said firefighters arrived to find heavy fire inside the 1850s farmhouse at 169 Foreside Road.

Additional Photos

Firefighters were still on the scene at 10:30 a.m. Monday after an early morning fire at 169 Foreside Road in Falmouth. The fire was reported at 5 a.m. Shawn Patrick Ouellette / Staff Photographer

Firefighters started to attack the fire inside the building, but it burned through the floor and stairwell, making it too dangerous to stay inside, he said.

They worked through the morning trying to keep the fire from spreading from the 1-1/2 story ell to the main part of the farmhouse, but it eventually spread to the attic of that part of the structure as well.

“Unfortunately, they just get a good head start on you,” Rice said. “We’re not sure how long it was burning” before it was discovered.

The house recently had been sold and workers were doing some last-minute renovations. A woman who said she and her family were moving in said crews were redoing the floors Sunday night and her husband was painting.

The most recent Falmouth tax records show the home and property had an assessed value of $847,800.

Crews were still on the scene at 10:30 a.m. No one was injured in the blaze.

Crews from Portland and Cumberland helped battle the fire.

This story will be updated.

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Correction: This story was revised at 10:39 a.m., March 24, 2014, to reflect that the fire is at 169 Foreside Road. An earlier version of this story had an incorrect address.

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