LIVERMORE – The huge, historic barn and mansion at the Washburn-Norland Living History Center were in flames late Monday night as firefighters from 10 departments battled to keep the blaze from spreading.

At 10:20 p.m., an hour after an alarm company reported the fire to Livermore Falls police, the barn had been destroyed and flames were consuming the attached two-story mansion, which was filled with antiques and artifacts.

Firefighters were being ordered out of the five-bedroom home at 290 Norlands Road to reduce their risks.

A dispatcher at the police department called the fire extensive.

State police were assisting with traffic control at the congested scene.

Flames had flattened the barn and were licking at the farmer’s kitchen between the barn and mansion, and could be seen coming through a hole in the roof above the caretaker’s apartment on the second floor of the mansion.

Jay’s ladder truck poured water on the mansion as did firefighters with hand-held hoses.

A shower of burning embers cascaded onto the ground before fizzling out in the pouring rain. At times, smoke was so thick the buildings couldn’t be seen.

People gathered on the lawn of the mansion to snap photos and watch firefighters.

Bill White, who lives on nearby Fish Meadow Road, said his children heard the firetrucks before a neighbor called and told him to look out his window.

The flames were shooting 100 feet into the air, he said.

The 445-acre Norlands property, a living museum of 18th and 19th century rural life in Maine, includes the barn and mansion, a meeting house, a schoolhouse, a church and a library. All are between 150 and 200 years old.

The working farm includes beef cattle, milk cows, oxen, draft horses, pigs, sheep and chickens.

The center is run by the nonprofit Washburn-Norlands Foundation, which was established in 1974 at the bequest of the Washburn family descendants to preserve it as a working farm and offer a unique educational experience for visitors, who come by the tens of thousands annually.

Each building was restored and contained a vast collection of artwork, family artifacts, historic clothing, books, furniture and more, according to the Norlands Web site.

The collections were used for educational and research projects. Hundreds of school children and others have visited the center to participate in and observe life on an American family farm.

The center is run by a staff of about a dozen full- and part-time workers.

Israel and Martha Washburn raised their 10 children on the hilltop farm, including seven sons who were influential in American politics and commerce. They were ambassadors, governors, senators, congressmen, Civil War soldiers and businessmen around the United States.

Israel Washburn Jr. was governor of Maine during the Civil War. Israel and his brother Elihu were instrumental in founding the Republican Party. Six Washburn brothers attended President Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration.

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