LEWISTON – Something didn’t look quite right about the stand of pines that separates Clayton Larochelle’s property from his neighbor’s.

A real estate agent, Larochelle had sold the house and land at 366 Pond Road to his buddy Rob Moon Jr. and girlfriend Trisha Lebeda about three years ago. Larochelle lives just behind the parcel on Cherrywood Drive and drops in to visit the couple and their three children regularly.

So as he drove past the Cape with its attached barn about the time Friday night was turning to Saturday morning, something struck him as odd.

“It looked like a large shadow from one of the trees, but it was too close to the house,” said Larochelle.

His curiosity piqued, he kept looking.

As he passed the property, he glanced in his sideview mirror. Then he froze. Orange flames were shooting out of the back of the barn. The “shadow” was a cloud of smoke.

Larochelle knew then that his friends were likely sound asleep in a burning home.

He turned his truck around and immediately dialed Moon on his cell phone. The phone just kept ringing. He stopped the truck, broke through the front door and found Moon asleep on a sofa. Lebeda was at work.

“He was out cold,” Larochelle said of Moon. “I told him his house was on fire. You could tell it didn’t register with him right away. He started straightening the blanket. I said ‘Rob, Rob, your house is on fire’.”

The two men quickly sprang into action. Moon ran upstairs to get his 3-year-old son, then 6-year-old daughter. He passed each child to Larochelle who brought them to his truck for safety while dialing 911 on his cell phone.

“By the time he put the second child in my arms you could barely see the staircase through the smoke,” said Larochelle. By the time the third child was rescued, a 2-year-old son, the house was full of smoke.

The speed of the rescue was critical said firefighters, who responded to Larochelle’s call. Another five minutes in the smoke-filled bedrooms could have meant fatalities.

“I was just so glad we could get everybody out,” said Larochelle. “It was a freak accident that I spotted the fire. I couldn’t see it until I drove by.”

Larochelle and Moon said they were both impressed with the response of the Lewiston Fire Department. Larochelle said he was dialing 911 again to tell the dispatcher that all the occupants of the house were out when he spotted firetrucks rounding Sabattus Street onto Pond Road.

“They were here really quickly,” said Larochelle. “They really battled that thing.”

On Saturday, Moon, Lebeda and Larochelle were at the fire scene, surveying the damage. Fire officials estimate the blaze caused about $85,000 worth of damage.

“We just looked at each other and shook our heads,” said Larochelle. “It was that close.”

The couple will rebuild.

And they are very grateful to Larochelle, whom Lebeda called a hero.

Larochelle deflects her praise. By Sunday, he was back to work, showing properties for the Fontaine family’s real estate group.

“Anybody would have done the same thing if they saw it,” said Larochelle. “It’s just something I did. I’m not a hero.”

[email protected]