WEST PARIS – A two-story house was destroyed Monday evening after a discarded cigarette sparked a fire that spread into the upper floor.

Chief Norm St. Pierre of the West Paris Fire Department said the home at 17 Benson Hill Road was a total loss. It was being rented by Elaine Bedard, who was home at the time of the fire. Bedard, her two teenage daughters and her 4-year-old daughter escaped without injury, along with a male friend of Bedard’s.

St. Pierre said a cigarette in a plastic bucket outside the front door caused the fire, which burned up through a wall and into the roof.

The metal roof on the structure kept firefighters working on the blaze for eight hours after it was reported shortly before 8:45 p.m. Crews worked in 10-minute shifts to cut through the roof from a ladder truck to access the fire.

“Just cutting into that roof took a lot out of the guys,” St. Pierre said.

Firefighters from West Paris, Paris, Greenwood, Woodstock, Norway, Oxford and Poland responded to the scene, as well as Tri-Town Rescue.

The house was owned by Sid Abbott, also of Benson Hill Road.

St. Pierre said the Red Cross was assisting Bedard and her children.