Paint, wood stove combine to burn Maine house

By Rich Hewitt
Bangor Daily News

ELLSWORTH, Maine — Fire destroyed a garage and damaged the exterior of a home on North Street on Tuesday afternoon.

The initial call came in from a passer-by who reported what appeared to be a grass fire at the home of Tom Joy that was spreading toward a garage and the nearby house, according to Fire Chief Jon Marshall. The chief said, however, that the fire actually might have started in the garage.

When firefighters arrived, the garage was engulfed in flames, and the fire was burning the grass and had begun to melt the vinyl siding on the house.

"They got a quick knockdown at the house," the chief said, "then they concentrated on putting the garage [fire] out."

The owner told firefighters that he had been painting lobster buoys in the garage earlier in the day and that he had the wood stove going.

"We assume that there were combustibles too close to the wood fire," Marshall said.

No one was in the garage or the home when the fire started.

The fire destroyed the garage as well as the lobster buoys and a motorcycle. The blaze in the grass also damaged a pickup truck and a camper that were parked on the lawn. The fire damaged the outside of the house, melting the vinyl siding on the front side of the building. It did not damage the interior of the home, Marshall said.

Firefighters from Ellsworth and Hancock responded to the call, and the Lamoine Fire Department provided coverage at the Hancock station.

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