Firefighters from two towns helped battled the blaze.
RUMFORD – Firefighters late Monday afternoon were able to squelch a fire in the basement of the home of Greg and Sarah Burgess on the Eaton Hill Road before it spread into the main part of the house.
Deputy Chief Richard Coulombe said that as Burgess’ nephew, Henry Ross, stepped out of the shower, he smelled and saw smoke.
Apparently when someone had tossed a towel down the basement stairs, it landed on a lighting fixture used to light the stairway. The towel caught fire, along with several other pieces of clothing on the stairs.
The burning cloth filled the two-story, wood-frame home with smoke. Ross was checked out for smoke inhalation by Med-Care Ambulance Service.
About two dozen Rumford firefighters and another dozen Mexico firefighters responded to the 4:48 p.m. call. The fire was confined to the basement. The Rumford Fire Department used smoke ejectors to rid the house of smoke.
The scene was cleared in just over an hour. Coulombe said damage was confined to the burned clothing and towels.
Throughout the day, woods or grass fires were also reported in several nearby towns including Canton, Dixfield, Byron, West Paris and Livermore.
eadams@sunjournal.com
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