SOMERVILLE — A home in Somerville recently listed for sale burned down Thursday afternoon, just hours after its owners accepted an offer on it.
The property at 776 Somerville Road on Long Pond caught fire around 2:30 p.m. Thursday and burned until 8 p.m., Somerville Fire Chief Mike Dostie said Friday.
The house is a total loss, he said, and investigators with the Maine Office of State Fire Marshal believe the fire started from discarded smoking material, according to Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety.
There are no concerns of foul play, Moss added.
Dostie said crews needed to use 800 feet of fire hose to reach the house because of where the property is located in relation to the road. In total, 48 firefighters were on the scene, including two forest rangers who helped minimize the spread of the fire.
“It started spreading on the ground going in both directions, there was so much wind. That’s what made the fire hard to fight,” Dostie said. “There was no forest area destroyed — the forest rangers took care of it quickly.”
The family that owned the house listed it for sale a couple of days before the Thursday fire.
It was on the market for $300,000, came partially furnished and offered 153 feet of shorefront on Long Pond. The listing states the house was built in 1989, had three bedrooms, two baths and was 1,922 square feet.
A Somerville hom, listing for $300,000, was destroyed by fire Thursday, just hours after the owners accepted an offer to buy it. Courtesy of Maine Department of Public Safety
According to the real estate agent, Debra DelMonaco at Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate/The Masiello Group, the house was under contract with an interested buyer ready to purchase the house in May. The house was not set to undergo any inspections, but the appraisal process was pending.
“I’ve been doing this 25 years and have never had a house burn down before the sale,” she said.
DelMonaco said the family was excited that they had found a buyer, and confirmed the family has another place to reside.
Whitefield Fire and Rescue, Windsor Fire, Jefferson Fire and Rescue, Chelsea Fire and Washington Fire departments responded to the call.
The National Weather Service in Gray issued information for Friday afternoon regarding a dry air mass moving through the area, with high winds that can “create critical and elevated fire conditions.”
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