Fire officials are investigating the second fatal fire in two days in a small Aroostook County town.
Early Wednesday morning, investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office recovered the body of a woman who died when fire destroyed a two-story home at 117 Sam Everett Road in Fort Fairfield. The fire was reported at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The victim is believed to be 39-year-old Hope Phillips, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. A positive identification will be made by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
Phillips and her long time boyfriend, Jeffrey Chasse, lived in the home that burned to the ground Tuesday night, according to Maine State Police. Also killed in the fire were the couple’s two dogs.
Fire Investigators used an excavator to assist in examining the rubble of the house today, but no cause to the fire has yet been determined.
It was the second fatal fire this week in the town of about 3,500 residents.
On Monday, 90-year-old Dawn Findlen died when fire engulfed her farmhouse at 34 Densmore Road, according to investigators. The cause of that fire is undetermined because of the extent of the damage.
In both fires, much of the house collapsed into the basement. The bodies of the victims were found in the basements of the burned homes.
There is no indication that the two fires are connected.
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