A neighbor of 1017 State Route 121 in Otisfield unfurls an American flag Monday that was draped over a vehicle at the scene of a fatal fire Sunday night. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

OTISFIELD — Autopsies and DNA tests are to be performed on two bodies found Monday morning after flames destroyed a farmhouse on Route 121 late Sunday night.

Otisfield Fire Chief Kyle Jordan confirmed the discovery of two bodies in the two-story home Monday.

They are believed to be Jean Jalbert, 77, and Donna Jalbert, 65, who lived at the home, according to Shannon Moss, the Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson. The bodies were transported to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, where autopsies will be performed and DNA used for positive identification, she said.

A neighbor of 1017 State Route 121 in Otisfield looks Monday for four missing cats at the scene of a fatal farmhouse fire. The cats lived at the home that burned late Sunday night. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Rick Mowery, pastor of the Spurrs Corner Church next door to the Jalberts, said, “They were good neighbors. Jean just had such a great sense of humor, and he was a tough guy, fought cancer and bounced back. You’d see him working in his yard all the time.”

“They came to suppers sometimes and came around on different occasions, sometimes services,” he said, adding that they were a great part of the community.

“It was tough to see that this morning,” Mowery said.

The 100-year-old home at 1017 State Route 121 and an attached barn were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, Jordan said.

Firefighters from multiple agencies in Oxford, Androscoggin and Cumberland counties responded to the fire report about 11:23 p.m. Sunday. Crews requested tankers from neighboring fire departments.

“Water supply was an issue,” Jordan said. “Rural firefighting is always a challenge.”

Providing mutual aid were fire crews from Oxford, Mechanic Falls, Casco, Raymond, Naples, Bridgton, Denmark, Harrison, Sweden, Waterford, Norway, Paris and Hebron, as well as Pace Ambulance Service and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Route 121 was closed between Powhatan Road and Bolster Mills Road, according to Jordan, and reopened by 10:30 a.m. Monday.

The fire deaths were the seventh and eighth in Maine this year, Moss said. Last year, 29 people died in fires; in 2002 there were 19.

Charred debris is seen Monday after flames destroyed a two-story farmhouse at 1017 State Route 121 in Otisfield where two people died. They are believed to be Jean Jalbert, 77, and Donna Jalbert, 65, who lived at the home, according to Shannon Moss, the Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal