LEWISTON – Police pulled a man to safety through his bedroom window late Tuesday night as a home on Old Lisbon Road was engulfed in flames.

Neighbors said the 54 Old Lisbon Road home of Frank Corrao, former owner of the Central Maine Civic Center, was almost fully involved when police arrived about 10:15 p.m.

The 64-year-old was asleep in his bedroom as flames devoured the roof of his sprawling home.

“I saw him coming out the window. I looked up at the roof and said ‘Oh, my God,” said Kevin Dibacco, who lives next to the home that burned.

Police officers William Rousseau and Corey Jacques hurled a cinder block through the window and then reached in to rescue Corrao as he was roused from sleep.

“By that point, half the house was up in flames,” said police Sgt. Danny LaChance. “They got him out and then Officer Rousseau went to get the dog. They did a great job getting them out of there.”

Minutes later, Corrao stood on his front lawn, a small dog curled in his arms, watching his home burn. The police officers rushed back to the front of the house to move a pair of cars out of the way so firetrucks could get to the area.

Ann Keith, who lives across the street, looked over and saw the flames shooting out of her neighbors’ roof. She said Lewiston police arrived and immediately went to work.

“There was a guy with his dog inside and they saved his life,” she said.

Firefighters surrounded the building and attacked the fire with water, but flames were still shooting from the roof an hour after it began. Melting shingles dripped flames from the roof as the fire grew more intense.

Firefighters from Auburn, Lisbon and Greene were sent to the scene with tanker trucks as crews struggled with a shortage of fire hydrants and water pressure.

For an hour, the glow from the fire could be seen miles away at the top of Webster Street, closer to downtown Lewiston.

Neighbors said Corrao lived alone in the house, which they estimated to be at least 100 years old. It was formerly the home of Lewiston Mayor Robert Wiseman, who lived there in the late 1920s.

The cause of the blaze was unknown. Neighbors said Corrao kept classic cars in a garage, including several Thunderbirds. It was suspected that they were destroyed in the fire. Several explosions were heard from the area in which they were stored as fire crews continued to battle the blaze.

Corrao has several children, who were being called late Tuesday night. An hour after he escaped his burning home, he sat in a truck with Lewiston fire investigator Paul Ouellette, who was beginning to look into the cause of the fire.

Crews were expected to be at the scene into Wednesday morning before Ouellette would be able to enter to burned house to continue his probe.

Corrao and Roger Theriault bought the Civic Center in 1989 and Corrao later sold his interest in the Birch Street property, which is now the Androscoggin Bank Colisee owned by the city.

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