POLAND – Firefighters credit memories of elementary school fire safety lessons with saving a Poland man’s home from total destruction early Saturday morning.

“The best thing he did was close the doors,” said deputy fire Chief Mark Bosse.

Bosse said that homeowner Daniel Banker and his girlfriend returned to his Jackson Road home around 1 a.m. Saturday to find smoke billowing out as they went to go in. He said the couple didn’t realize the inside of the structure was on fire until they went to enter through a sliding glass door.

Banker originally thought the smoke indicated a problem with his wood-burning stove, but soon realized the split-level ranch was on fire and called 911. On his way out, Banker closed the sliding glass door behind him – thus stopping fresh air from fueling the flames – a lesson he later told Bosse that he remembered from his youth when the fire department would come to his school.

According to Bosse, the recollection likely prevented the blaze from fully engulfing the home.

“If he hadn’t closed the door behind him it would have been worse because the oxygen would have fueled the fire,” Bosse said.

More than 20 firefighters from Poland, Oxford, Mechanic Falls, Minot and New Gloucester battled the blaze for four hours. Investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office determined that the accidental blaze was caused by a slow-burning electrical fire that burned a hole through the center cross beam of the structure.

“You have a big hole – basically – in the middle of the floor,” Bosse said, describing how from the outside one would never be able to tell the damage inside.

Bosse said the home can likely be repaired, but was not able to place an estimate on damages.