DENMARK – Fire destroyed a farmhouse Friday night and left a family without their home, Fire Chief Ken Richardson said Saturday.

No one was injured in the blaze.

Like many Mainers on Friday, Greg and Audrey Dodds of 518 High Ridge Road were without power. About a half-hour after power was restored, they smelled something burning, Richardson said. They began to look for the cause of the smell. When they opened a downstairs bedroom door, the room was in flames with a lot of smoke, Richardson said.

By the time firefighters arrived, the fire had spread.

“I only have four people certified to go in” a building during a fire, Richardson said, adding that it’s getting tougher to staff an all-volunteer fire department. “Volunteerism is getting low. I had seven different towns helping.”

After the fire was extinguished, the house was still standing but the interior was gutted. The Dodds lost everything, Richardson said. The Salvation Army was called to help, he said.

The Dodds, who have several children, lost several family cats in the blaze, Richardson said. They are insured, the chief said, and are staying with a relative.

The cause of the fire was not know. The Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office was at the scene Saturday. A possible cause is electrical and the fact that the power was out.

The farmhouse had been in the town a long time, Richardson said.

– Bonnie Washuk