DURHAM – Mr. and Mrs. Dana Lord and their five children, ages 2 to 12, who were left homeless after a fire at their Royalsborough Road home Wednesday night, are now staying with Mrs. Lord’s parents in Durham.

Their rented house owned by Jeff and Tina Seeley was insured but the Lords had no insurance on the contents. Efforts are already under way to help the family. A bean supper will be held at the Topsham American Legion Hall at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Neighbors and friends have been dropping off donations to the fire station. Lisbon Area Christian Outreach, a food and clothing bank has also offered help. Those wishing to make other donations should call the fire station at 353-2473 for more information.

The children are a boy, age 2, who celebrated his birthday the day of the fire, a 5-year-old boy and girls, ages 6, 8 and 12.

Durham Fire Chief Bill St. Michel said Thursday, “No official determination of the cause of the fire has been made pending completion of the investigation.”

The State Fire Marshal’s Office did not have anyone available to conduct an investigation on Thursday so St. Michel said he will rely on an insurance inspector’s report. He and the insurance inspector visited the scene on Thursday.

“The fire was reported shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday night in an area of a woodstove in the kitchen,” St. Michel said. The “main body” of the fire was confined to the kitchen, a room above and the ell area, he added. Mrs. Lord and the children were out of the house when firemen arrived. Her husband was not at home at the time. No injuries were reported.

There was smoke, water and heat damage to other portions of the old, two-story wood-framed farm house, but St. Michel said he didn’t believe everything was lost as firemen quickly covered as much as they could inside as soon as possible. Firemen were somewhat hampered in getting at the fire because the old house had been renovated several times over the years.

However, water to fight the fire was not an issue, as is the usual case when fires occur in rural areas. The house is located close enough to a dry hydrant at the nearby fire station on Hallowell Road, which provided adequate water so that it was “knocked down” in a little over a half hour, St. Michel said.

This is the first time the dry hydrant has been utilized for a fire since it was installed and it worked perfectly, St Michel said.

Firemen laid 1,500 feet of 4-inch line to bring the water to the fire scene and a portable water tank that was set up did not have to be used, he said. He commended firefighters for an excellent job and especially Deputy Fire Chief Curtis Dimock who was first at the scene for quickly organizing the firefighting effort. Portions of Royalsborough Road and Hallowell Road in the area were closed at the height of the fire.

Firemen from Lisbon Falls, Pownal and Freeport provided mutual aid and filled in at the Durham fire station.