TURNER – Water hoses shot with such force that they peeled the shingles off the white farmhouse at 41 County Road where a fire burned strong for more than two hours Monday afternoon, destroying the two-story home and an attached barn and killing one horse.
Widow Marion Jordan, 78, who lived there alone, managed to free another horse after the fire started in the barn, her nephew Eugene Jordan said.
Fire Chief Steve Fish said the home was fully engulfed when his crew arrived at the scene at 1 p.m. Firefighters from Livermore, Greene, Leeds, Buckfield and Sumner also responded, many of them running water shuttles between the scene and hydrants on Wood Street and County Road.
One firefighter was taken to the hospital with a back injury at 2:15 p.m. Others could be seen taking off his pack and jacket as he knelt on the ground.
Ten minutes later, one-quarter of the house collapsed.
Fish said an investigation into the cause would start after the scene was cleared.
Justin Ouellette of Lewiston had just grabbed lunch at Roy’s All-Steak Hamburgers with his girlfriend and son when “we decided to take the scenic route home” and cruise down County Road.
They saw Jordan and her son trying to put out the spreading fire with a broom.
Ouellette said his girlfriend ran to a neighbor’s home and called for help while he held Jordan back, preventing her from running into the burning house.
He said he yanked on the door to the shed where the horse was trapped and couldn’t get it to open.
Other people stopped and he joined them in a bucket brigade, putting out a fire in a field next to the house with five-gallon buckets and water from an above-ground swimming pool.
“It’s amazing people can just work as a team,” said Sharon Cosgrove, who spotted the smoke on her way home for lunch. “We just started filling (buckets) and passing them and running through the flames to pass the empty bucket. It was like you were working with your best friend.”
The fire had jumped a rock wall dividing the property from a neighbor’s. It was out by the time firetrucks got to the scene, so firefighters concentrated on the house.
“I was worried about laundry before this. It really puts things in perspective,” Cosgrove said.
Eugene Jordan said his aunt had lived in the home for a long time. Her son, Joey, was able to grab a television, a few photos and paperwork. He dropped a safe out the window to save it.
“She’s been here forever and ever,” Jordan said. “She’s tough.”
A big red dog also made it out of the fire OK. It was tied to a tree in the yard as firefighters worked.
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