LEWISTON – A woman and her teenage son remained hospitalized Thursday night after the pair suffered smoke inhalation in an early-morning fire at the family’s Main Street home.

Raynald Lebrun Jr., 14, was in critical but stable condition at Central Maine Medical Center’s Intensive Care ward, according to a nursing supervisor.

Celestia Lebrun, the boy’s mother, was listed in stable condition at the Lewiston hospital.

The Lebruns fled their second-floor apartment at 555-557 Main St. about 1 a.m. when flames swept up from the first floor.

Two other Lebrun children, ages 11 and 13, were unhurt in the fire.

Fire officials said Raynald Jr. escaped the burning building without harm, but that he rushed back in, believing some family members were still inside.

In all, more than a half-dozen people were left homeless in the blaze. Fire officials said the fire likely started with a carelessly discarded cigarette in a first floor apartment. The exact cause remained under investigation.

Officials said flames spread quickly from the first floor to the second when a hallway door was left open as residents fled their homes.

As firefighters battled the blaze, the Lebrun family huddled in an ambulance early Thursday and prayed.

“We thanked God for making it possible for us to be together,” said Raynald Lebrun Sr., a disabled Vietnam veteran.

Raynald Jr. was being kept in an induced coma at CMMC Thursday night, family friend John Semetauskis said. Celestia was expected to be released on today.

“Their lungs are filled with soot and smoke,” Raynald Sr. said.

The fire was detected by a woman who lived on the first floor with her daughter, Lebrun said. Though it was after midnight, she was wrapping Christmas presents. So was Lebrun and his wife.

The tenant called Lebrun asking if he, too, smelled smoke. A moment later, Celestia Lebrun could smell it. Then, the smoke detectors began going off.

Eight people inside the building escaped before flames swept across both floors.

Almost everything was gone. Lebrun returned to the home late Thursday morning, in hopes of salvaging some clothes.

Flames had blackened the staircase to the family’s second-story apartment. The kitchen was cinders. And above the table, the fins of the ceiling fan had curled up from the intense heat, he said.

In the next room, the family’s artificial tree was still standing.

Firefighters had managed to throw a tarp over the Lebruns’ tree. Soot turned the limbs and ornaments a dull gray, but the presents seemed fine, protected by their wrappings.

“The needles are a little droopy and the angel on top was staring at the floor,” said fire investigator Paul Ouellette. “The presents might smell like smoke, but otherwise, they’re in pretty good shape.”

The fire caused between $60,000 and $70,000 in damages, Ouellette said. He said that a self-closing door might have stopped the flames from spreading to the upstairs. He also said fire alarms in the building were battery operated instead of hard wired.

The Lebrun family on Thursday were assessing the damage from the fire and preparing for Christmas Eve.

“We’re alright,” he said. “We will be together for Christmas.”

Family friends, however, were not so optimistic. The Lebruns lost most of their personal belongings in the blaze. With no home to go back to, they were expected to be living in a motel for the next several days.

“They’re wiped out,” said John Semetauskis, a friend of the family. “The whole family stays real upbeat, but it’s a sad, sad situation.”

At CMMC, a nursing supervisor said Celestia was just waking up at about 8 p.m. Thursday. And the patient wanted to pass on a message.

“She wants to thank everybody for their prayers,” the supervisor said.

Semetauskis was setting up a relief fund in hopes of helping the Lebruns recover from the ordeal. The fire, meanwhile, was being investigated by Ouellette, Lewiston fire Investigator Pete Morrell and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.



Donations to help the Lebrun family can be sent to the Lebrun Relief Fund, care of John Semetauskis, 10 Leeds Junction Road, Leeds, 04263.