An excavator works to knock down a smoking structure fire on Naples Road in Harrison Saturday afternoon. Jon Bolduc/Sun Jorunal
HARRISON — A home was destroyed and a cat killed in a fire at 720 Naples Road in Harrison on Saturday afternoon.
The house was fully engulfed with flame by the time the Harrison Fire Department arrived, about seven minutes after the fire was reported by a neighbor, according to Tim Pellerin, public information officer for the Harrison Fire Department. Crews from multiple towns responded to a request for mutual aid.
“We arrived, the house was fully engulfed, and our main attempt was to save the new home that they’re building approximately 20 feet away,” Pellerin said. “That’s what we did; we concentrated our efforts on that. There was nothing we could do with this (the old house).”
A cat was killed in the fire, Pellerin said, but there were no injuries and no one was home when the fire started. The home is a complete loss, and Pellerin estimated the damages to be about $200,000.
The neighboring house being saved from the fire was a testament to how mutual aid towns work together to stop fires from spreading, Pellerin said. After the second alarm sounded, Naples, Casco, Otisfield, Norway and Bridgton responded, he said.
“We needed that amount of help. We’re in a rural section of town,” said Pellerin. “This was like every other small volunteer town. Manpower was severely limited on a weekend. There’s a lot of things going on. There’s basketball, all these events.
“This is a great example of how mutual aid works well together and accomplishes a goal. Without that, we would have lost both structures,” said Pellerin.
Crews from multiple towns work to extinguish a structure fire on Naples Road in Harrison before it spreads to an adjacent home Saturday afternoon. Jon Bolduc/ Sun Journal
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