ORLEANS –– A fire ripped through a vacant home at 43 Maple Street early Saturday morning. Firefighters were called to the scene at 2:22 a.m.
The structure was fully involved when firefighters arrived on the scene. Fire Chief E.J. Rowell said the 2.5-story, two-unit apartment building’s attached barn was empty. It took firefighters a couple of hours to knock the blaze down and out, declaring it out at about 5:30 a.m.
At mid-morning, the state police were investigating the cause and origin of the fire. Rowell said a house across the street from the fire sustained some melted vinyl siding. He added that the fire is not necessarily suspicious.
“It looks like it started from the barn area and spread into the house,” said Rowell. The owner has been identified as Mark Sublett, who lives out of state. “These people bought it to flip it. They put some work into it.”
The property owner did not have insurance. Firefighters drew water from hydrants. Fire departments from Glover, Irasburg, and Newport City provided mutual aid, said Rowell.
“It was very hot,” Rowell said. “It was an old house.”
At first, the roof collapsed, which made it challenging for firefighters, but even with that it was fine, Rowell said.
Rodney Libbey, who lives across the street from the burnt building, said that when he woke up around 3 a.m., he saw fire trucks and fire shooting up through the roof. He said that he woke up his wife to make her aware of what was going on.
The property on Saturday had a real estate sign on the lawn. Libbey said nobody had been living there, but he saw people go through it. He added that he bought his property across the street from the fire scene about six months ago, and it’s been vacant at least that long.
The Orleans Emergency Unit also responded to the scene. They evacuated a couple of nearby homes. Firefighters cleared the scene at 6:45 a.m.
