Woodstock fire too severe to determine cause

WOODSTOCK — The total destruction left by a blaze at a log-sided home on Route 232 on Friday night has made determining the cause difficult for fire investigators.

State Fire Marshal Dan Young said Saturday that investigators were confident the fire began inside the building at 40 Route 232, but they may not be able to determine what caused the fire.

"Normally, in a fire investigation, you have fire patterns on walls and floors you can trace back to determine what caused it — whether it be electrical, or a candle or something else," Young said. "In this case, we don't have that. Everything is gone. Everything is in a pile, 3 feet deep in the basement."

Firefighters from Woodstock, West Paris, Greenwood and Bethel responded to the blaze at the 30- by 50-foot home Friday night, but were unable to save the building. Tri-Town Rescue and PACE ambulance service were also at the scene.

No one was home at the time of the fire, and there were no injuries reported.

The home was owned by Don Lawrence of Bryant Pond who said Saturday that he had the house listed for sale at $250,000 in 2008, but pulled it off the market. At the time of the fire, he was renting the house to Richard and Crystal Meeks, long-haul truckers. The Meekses have been out of town traveling for the past three weeks and were on the road in Canada when the fire was reported.

Young said he was continuing to interview the Meekses, the landlord and neighbors.

"I still have a few people to talk to," Young said. "Hopefully, they can tell us something that will help determine the cause. But I don't think we'll ever be able to definitively say exactly what happened."

staylor@sunjournal.com