A Bowdoin family and a dog avoided injury Sunday evening after the pickup truck they were traveling home in caught fire on Meadow Road.
The fire was reported at 5:07 p.m., just feet from the Bowdoin town line.
Firefighters responded from Bowdoin, Bowdoinham and Topsham fire departments.
Topsham patrol officer Troy Garrison said apparently the 1997 GMC pickup truck had a gas leak between the cab and truck body and caught fire while a 16-year-old boy with a learner’s permit was driving along Meadow Road.
When firefighters battled the blaze, the truck was pulled off to the side of the road, directly under power lines which were not damaged. The family was returning home after picking up groceries.
The truck was registered to Stanley and Diane D’Orio, Garrison said.
According to Bowdoin Fire Chief Tom Garrepy, Diane D’Orio and her two sons, as well as a dog, were in the truck when the fire started. Firefighters had the fire out in about 15 minutes.
No one was injured and the vehicle was insured, Garrison said. The truck was a total loss and was hauled away on a flatbed truck by Rick’s Towing.
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