OLD TOWN (AP) – A former legislator jumped from a second-story window to escape a fire that destroyed his home.

Ralph Coffman was not injured by his leap during the predawn fire Monday but was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center for treatment for smoke inhalation.

Coffman, a former Democratic state representative who lives with his daughter, was the only one home at the time of the fire.

The fire apparently was caused by an overheated vent in a clothes dryer which Coffman said he had filled before going to bed, according to Roger Sirois, assistant fire chief.

“The fire burned in the wall until basically it was reported, and it was quite a ways through the house when (Coffman) was awakened by the fire,” Sirois said.

AP-ES-08-25-04 1153EDT