Submitted photo

A vacant trailer home on Mill Hill Road in Waterford was destroyed by fire Wednesday night. Owner Cathy Heino Pomerleau of Buckfield reported she had a heat tape in use at the back of the structure, which is where firefighters said flames and electrical arcing were first seen on arrival about 8:30 p.m. , Assistant Chief Bill Haynes said. There were no injuries.

Heat tape possible cause of Waterford fire

WATERFORD – A heat tape may be the cause of a fire that destroyed a vacant home on Mill Hill Road on Wednesday night.

Owner Cathy Heino Pomerleau of Whitman School Road in Buckfield checked her property Thursday and said she had a heat tape in use at the back end of the structure at the time of the fire, Haynes said. That’s the area where the flames erupted, he said, and where firefighters saw electrical arcing.

Two dozen volunteers from Waterford Fire Department, including Haynes, Fire Chief Brad Grover and Assistant Chiefs Tom Murch and Ray Merrill had help from Harrison and Norway crews in battling the “stubborn” blaze and shuttling water for three hours from a dry hydrant at Island Pond in Harrison.

Pomerleau said an insurance adjuster would be inspecting the charred remains today, Haynes advised.

“Parts of it are still standing,” he said of the trailer that had a roof added to it and extensions built onto it. That type of construction is what made it difficult to extinguish, he added.

Central Maine Power Co. disconnected electrical service from the building.

Crews left the scene at 1 a.m., but were called back later after town plow drivers spotted flare-ups. The scene was finally cleared at 4 a.m., Haynes said.

The state fire marshal’s office was not called to investigate, he said.