FRANKFORT (AP) – A fast-moving fire Monday that gutted a 2-story home within sight of this Waldo County town’s volunteer fire department killed one woman and left another with severe burns, officials said.
The fire was reported shortly after 9 a.m. in the second story of the house on Route 1A. The home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
The woman killed was identified as Ginger Pratt, 24, whose body was recovered from a second-floor storage room. Pratt was apparently overcome by smoke, the state fire marshal’s office said.
Pratt’s legal guardian, Laura Drob, 46, escaped from the burning home but was transported to a Boston hospital for treatment of burns to her face, arms and hands, said Stephen McCausland, state Public Safety Department spokesman.
Investigators said they were waiting to determine the cause of the fire until they could talk to Drob.
The house had a battery-powered smoke detector, but investigators said the battery had not been changed in several years and was likely was not working.
Drob’s husband left the house for jury duty in Belfast at about 8:30 a.m., about an hour before the fire was reported.
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