A fire destroyed a mobile home in Bowdoin and sent a man to the hospital with smoke inhalation on Thursday.
The blaze at 1156 Augusta Road was reported at 2:49 p.m. and resulted in the closure of a portion of Route 201.
Bowdoinham Fire Chief Arthur Frizzle said one end of the mobile home was consumed in flames when firefighters arrived.
The fire was knocked down within 15-20 minutes of the arrival of firefighters, though the home was largely gutted.
James Norman lives in the mobile home and Frizzle said he tried to put out the fire himself before calling 911.
Norman was trying to rescue his cats and inhaled quite a bit of smoke, Frizzle said.
Norman allowed himself to be transported to Central Maine Medical Center for smoke inhalation only after he saw that crews had the fire under control.
Frizzle said there may be some salvageable items, but he believes the home is a total loss.
He didn’t know the fate of the cats.
The American Red Cross responded to assist the homeowner.
Firefighters were successful in keeping flames from spreading to another nearby mobile home, though a dog was removed from that residence out of caution.
Thursday’s blaze highlighted issues faced by volunteer fire departments hampered by a mid-afternoon personnel shortage. The rural location also proved challenging.
It wasn’t until Topsham firefighters arrived that there was enough manpower to lay about 2,200 feet of hose from the scene to the nearest hydrant.
Investigators with the state fire marshal’s office were on scene Thursday working to determine the cause of the fire. According to Frizzle, Bowdoin Fire Department had responded to the residence recently for a furnace malfunction.
Norman told firefighters he had an electric heater in the bathroom on the end of the home where the fire broke out.
Responding fire departments included Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Richmond, Topsham, Litchfield, Lisbon, Sabattus, West Gardiner and Pittston. The Sagadahoc County Sheriff ’s Department also responded. Richmond Police directed traffic.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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