Three family members escaped a fire early Tuesday morning that destroyed their home on Moody Road in Limington.

Justin Eastman, 19, said his mother, Cherie Eastman, 40, and his younger brother, Jonathan Eastman, 16, noticed the fire shortly after midnight.

Justin Eastman looks over his family's fire-damaged home on Tuesday morning. No one was injured in the blaze, which began around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. Eastman's parents designed and built the house in the early 2000s. Staff photo by Ben McCanna

Cherie Eastman emerges from under her deck while surveying her fire-damaged home on Tuesday morning. Staff photo by Ben McCanna

“My brother came to my door and said, ‘Hey, you need to get out of bed,’ all nonchalant,” Justin Eastman said. “I said, ‘Why?’ and he said, ‘The house is on fire.’ ”

Justin Eastman said that after the three got out of the house in the subzero cold, he sent his brother and mother next door to Cherie Eastman’s sister’s house and then called 911, but firefighters didn’t arrive in time to save the house.

No one was injured. Justin Eastman said his father, Tim, was at work at the time of the fire.

Cherie Eastman and her husband built the house on land given to them by her father. The couple cleared the lot and milled trees from the property for lumber used to build the house, which was completed in 2003.

The family was building an addition to give Justin Eastman a more private section of the house to live in, he said. An electric space heater was being used in the newly constructed section after the pipes froze, he said, and the family suspects the heater started the fire.

Cherie Eastman said she awoke to see a fire spreading on the ceiling above her, alerted her youngest son and told him to get his brother and get out of the house.

She said her father not only gave the land to the couple, but also helped with the carpentry work in the house. He has since died, she said.

“I can see his work everywhere,” Cherie Eastman said while surveying the damage with her family later Tuesday morning. “I’ve cried so much, there’s nothing more.”

The family is living next door to their destroyed house with Cherie Eastman’s sister for the time being.

Justin Eastman said he’s not sure whether the family will rebuild the house.

Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com