INDUSTRY – Norman Bean leaned on a wooden fence Tuesday and watched firefighters try to put out a fire that was destroying his home on Route 43.
Bean’s shoulders shook briefly as he put his head on his arms before he looked up again at the house.
Industry Selectman Lee Ireland walked over to check on Bean, patted him on the back, and the two continued to watch firefighters work.
Thirty-one firefighters from Industry, Farmington and Starks responded to fight the fire at the home Bean shares with his daughter, said Industry Fire Chief Joe Paradis Tuesday. The fire was reported at 11:36 a.m.
Paradis said the cape-style home, which appeared to have post-and-beam construction and had been revamped several times, was probably one of the town’s oldest houses.
At least two of Bean’s three cats perished in the fire, Paradis said. The third one couldn’t be found.
Bean was visiting with his father, Kermit Bean, next door when the fire started.
“My son loved that house,” Kermit Bean said Tuesday. “I don’t understand why.”
NorthStar Emergency Medical Services personnel checked the older Bean’s head at the scene after he fell when the fire was noticed.
It appears the fire started in the cellar area on top of the furnace, Paradis said.
Norman Bean told him, Paradis said, that the house had frozen pipes for the last 12 days and he was trying to thaw them out using various heat sources.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, heavy smoke was pouring from the windows and flames were showing, he said.
Firefighters attacked from both the front and back entrances at the same time to try to put it out. It was difficult because only a third of the house had a foundation, he said.
“He lost everything,” Paradis said.
Bean went over to Mt. Blue High School in Farmington to pick up his daughter so that she wouldn’t hear about the fire from someone else, Paradis said.
A Kyes Insurance agent was on site Tuesday afternoon helping Bean, the chief said. The house was insured.
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