SABATTUS – Two dogs perished and five people were homeless after a Monday night blaze destroyed two year-round camps on Route 126.

Nobody was hurt in the blaze believed to have been caused by a heater at the back of one of the lakeside homes, Fire Chief Robert Scott said.

Firefighters from four towns battled the fire that swept from one camp to another. By the time flames were subdued, one of the buildings was burned to the ground and the other was gutted, he said. Siding on a third building was melted, but that home was otherwise spared.

The two homes were owned by Andy Castonguay, who lived in one of them, officials said. He rented the second building to another man. It was not immediately clear how many people lived in each of the homes.

One tenant said a mother pit bull and her pup died in the blaze. The pit bulls were kept in kennels not far from the area where the fire began.

The homes that burned were both close to the shore of Sabattus Lake. All that remained on Tuesday was charred wood and metal from one of the houses and the blackened skeleton of the other.

A pair of tenants were picking through the rubble after fire investigators left for the day. There was not much to salvage.

Investigators believe the blaze started near a Monitor heater at the back of the home. Several witnesses who reported the fire said it appeared the flames originated at a rear corner of the building, where the heater was located.

“The fire marshals can’t pinpoint the exact cause because of the amount of damage,” said Scott. “But they found something stuck to the top of the Monitor heater, as though something had accidentally been set up there.”

Fire crews were hampered by several problems as they attempted to put out the blaze. Fallen power lines were live in front of the homes, and firefighters had to steer clear of them until power company crews could shut electricity.

With electrical power shut down, there were problems with pumps at the Sabattus Water District, which resulted in reduced water pressure from the hydrants. And wind from the lake fanned flames that shot out at times over Route 126.

“With all that going on, it was a hard fire to fight,” Scott said.

Debris left behind at the fire scene is expected to be cleared from the property in coming days. It was unknown if Castonguay plans to rebuild.