DAYTON — Firefighters answer the call of duty every day.

On Friday morning, Biddeford firefighters answered the call for one of their own.

Around 8 a.m., Alycia Loshaw dropped off her two young girls at the Biddeford Fire Department on her way to school, said Timothy Sevigny, president of Biddeford Career Firefighters at a press conference held at the Biddeford Fire Station late Friday afternoon. Her husband, Ryan Loshaw, a firefighter/paramedic, was just getting off a 24 hour shift.

Ryan Loshaw and the girls left to go to breakfast, and the call came in to the fire department that there was a fire at 82 Union Falls Road, Dayton. It was the home of the Loshaw family.

Biddeford firefighters responded to the fire, as they would any Dayton fire through a mutual aid agreement.

Ryan and Alycia Loshaw were notified, and Ryan Loshaw said his phone was flooded with calls of support from friends.

The fire started in a barn attached to the house and spread to the home, said Goodwin’s Mills Fire Chief Roger Hooper.

The barn burned to the ground and the house is inhabitable, said firefighters.

The cause of the fire is unknown and the State Fire marshal’s office is investigating, said Hooper.

Firefighters from Goodwins Mills, Hollis, Biddeford, Saco, Waterboro, Arundel, Alfred, Wells and Buxton were on the scene fighting the fire, said Hooper. He said there are no fire hydrants in the rural area, and it took a lot of personnel to connect a water supply. He said hose was laid many feet down to the Saco River at the Skelton Dam.

Ryan Loshaw said at the press conference that he and his family are staying in temporary lodging at a hotel, provided by their insurance company.

“It’s surreal,” said Alycia Loshaw earlier that day, just outside the home. “It’s pretty awful, but we’re all okay.”

The Loshaws moved into the mid-1800s farmhouse and adjoining acreage with the intention of creating a family farm they could pass down to their children, said Ryan Loshaw.

“We only lived here a year,” said Alycia Loshaw. “We’re just coming up on our one year anniversary.” She said she and her husband had done some redecorating and made some renovations.

Hooper said the family lost the majority of its belongings. Sevigny said a couple of pigs and a couple of cats died. The family had a couple of horses that survived and are at a nearby stable.

Alycia Loshaw said she and her husband had just bought their daughter her first bike, which is now destroyed.

A fund has been set up by the Biddeford Fire Career Firefighters to help the Loshaw family. To donate, go to www.gofundme.com/s88ap8. Checks can also be made out to the Biddeford Career Firefighters Loshaw Family Fund, P.O. Box 1566, Biddeford, ME, 04005.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.