ANDOVER – Flames were shooting from all sides of a South Arm Road home Saturday morning when firefighters arrived, but the only family member home at the time escaped unharmed.
“Fire was blowing out the windows, the door and the roof when I arrived on the scene,” said Capt. Dennis Hall.
The home, owned by Charles and Catherine Gaura, was destroyed. Two pets perished in the fire – a cat and a dog – but another dog burrowed under a nearby shed and survived.
Hall said the fire likely started by a malfunctioning propane heater which Charles Gaura had tried to turn on. His wife was working at a Mechanic Falls nursing home and two grown sons weren’t home at the time of the 7:25 a.m. blaze.
The one-story home had a lot of interior wood surfaces finished with polyurethane, which acted as an accelerant. Hall said fire crews responded within four minutes of receiving the call, but the house was too far gone to save.
“They lost everything,” Hall said.
He said the couple was planning to go to Togus on Sunday to restock Gaura’s medication. A Vietnam veteran, Gaura lost his military records, a gun collection and a coin collection in the fire.
The family plans to stay at a camp on the same property. Hall said the home was insured, and the Gauras expect to rebuild.
“He said when he rebuilds, though, he won’t have any wood finishes,” Hall said.
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