RICHMOND

A fire destroyed a house at 28 Hurley Drive in Richmond Wednesday afternoon, leaving a family with no home and their belongings gone.

A structure fire was initially reported at 16 Hurley Drive at 3 p.m. 

Brian Hurley said his mother lives next door at that address. He works in town for a local heating fuel delivery company and was there when he learned about the fire from a co-worker.

When he arrived, he found it was his own house next door ablaze. 

Hurley lives at the home with his wife and two daughters and said no one was home when the fire started. He doesn’t know how the fire started. He’s owned the house since it was new in 1991.

Fortunately the family dog was with him at work, and he found one of the cats. The other cat, firefighters thought they saw run away from the home.

It was a challenge to get enough water and manpower to the scene. Firefighters responded from multiple towns to help Richmond Fire Department battle the fire — including Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Dresden, Woolwich, Pittston, Litchfield and Gardiner. 

An investigator from the state fire marshal’s office was also on scene investigating the cause of the fire.

With the house destroyed, Hurley said many sentimental items were lost, like wedding and family photos and even the prom dress his youngest daughter had just bought with her own money.

Many family and friends came to offer support, and Hurley said he was happy everyone is OK. He expected his family would stay with relatives.

dmoore@timesrecord.com