WATERFORD – Alerted by their barking dog, the Rev. Earl Bell and his wife, Marilyn, were able to narrowly escape flames that destroyed their home on Route 118 Thursday.

However, they were unable to save Holly, their 5-year-old golden retriever.

Holly’s barking woke Marilyn about 1:30 a.m. She turned, looked out the rear window and was shocked to see a wall of flames.

Surrounded by fire, Marilyn, 74, and Earl, 73, used a step ladder to escape through the narrow windows of their first-floor bedroom.

“My wife was after me to move that ladder for about two weeks, but I hadn’t yet,” Earl said. “It was a blessing in disguise.”

The Bells lost almost everything they had – their clothes, their house and years of memories in the form of books and pictures.

The only thing the flames didn’t devour was the car.

Waterford Fire Chief Brad Grover said he believed the fire started in the home’s addition that the Bells used for a den and storeroom.

He said the addition was fully engulfed when the Waterford crews arrived and the fire had spread up the rear and into the front of the home.

Flames also spread into the brush and were heading west toward another home on the shore of Papoose Pond. The house was just west of Papoose Pond Camping Resort.

Grover said Waterford sent four trucks, Norway responded with five trucks and Stoneham sent three trucks.

The crews concentrated on the front of the home and extinguishing the brush fire.

A pump was set up near Papoose Pond to provide water, and the trucks not pumping onto the fire were used to shuttle water to the tankers.

Grover said it took about three hours to get the fire under control.

At 3 p.m., two firemen were still putting water on hot spots.

The one-story addition had collapsed into the basement.

“The coals are about 4 feet deep in the basement and are still smoldering down there,” Grover said after being on site for about 13 hours.

“We don’t know what happened and we don’t know how it started,” Earl Bell said. “Nothing was saved. But the firefighters were good. They came almost immediately.”

Bell retired from the pastorate at Deering Memorial United Methodist Church in Paris more than 10 years ago. He still performs ministerial duties at the West Bethel Union Church and Sweden Community Church, which he said are affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

jsmedley@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link