DIXFIELD – Sunday night’s fire at the Houghton residence on Common Road caused more than an estimated $100,000 in damage, acting Fire Chief Scott Dennett said Tuesday night.
The fire destroyed the old farmhouse that had been totally refurbished in the 1960s, an attached garage, enclosed porch breezeway and barn, all owned by Kermit and Emily Houghton. It was insured.
“The cause is undetermined,” Dennett said of the town’s first significant residential structure fire in a long time.
“It was so severely burned in the area of ignition that it would be impossible to identify a source. Accidental, is my estimation, but the official word, is undetermined,” he added.
State Fire Marshal investigator Chris Stanford examined what was left Monday.
Dennett said the fire is believed to have started in the garage on the side closest to the barn.
“Emily had been toward the front part of the house near the kitchen and heard some popping sounds and investigated. She said she saw smoke coming into the kitchen from the breezeway, but I don’t think she thought it was a fire,” he said.
The elderly couple’s grandson, Peter Merrill, who is in his 20s, saw the fire from his nearby home and ran to his grandparents’ home to get them out.
“He got her out and went back for Mr. Houghton. By then, the smoke had started to bank down, so Peter had to crawl in on his hands and knees to get him,” Dennett said.
He credited Merrill with saving their lives.
Dixfield firefighters got the word at 5:32 p.m., and called in mutual-aid responders from Canton, Peru, Rumford and Mexico. Dennett said that Mexico, in turn, asked for help from Byron and Roxbury.
He specifically wanted to thank the Byron and Roxbury firefighters, who traveled a long way to help out.
When the first Dixfield trucks arrived, the place was engulfed. Hay in the barn fueled the fire, as did a propane tank outside the kitchen. Dennett said the line to the tank had melted.
“We had a constant flow of propane just feeding the fire,” he said.
Firefighters remained on the scene until about 11 p.m. after getting it under control and dousing hot spots.
By then, it was a total loss.
The Houghtons, who lost everything, are living with family in the area. Donations for the couple, Dennett said, may be dropped off at Ed Merrill’s home on Common Road.
“We had some people already on their way to get things for the couple during the fire,” he added.
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