SABATTUS — Fire officials said a sparkler lit inside a house on Crowley Road late Wednesday afternoon was the cause of a blaze that gutted a section of the two-story home.

Three people were inside but escaped as flames rolled up the sides of the house at about 5 p.m.

The fire at 423 Crowley Road was reported at as neighbors and passersby saw flames shooting from the front and rear of the home.

“I was cooking supper when the power went out,” said Richard Caron, who lives across the street from the building that burned. “I got out here and saw the flames. The back was on fire and so was the front. The front was really going.”

Power to a few nearby homes went out when a transformer blew near the burning home, owned by Allen Ouellette, owner of the former Village Store up the road.

“I heard boom,” said Mike Pontbriand, who lives a few houses down. “I looked out and I could see the flames from my house. The flames were huge. It was crazy.”

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Fire crews from Sabattus and Wales were joined by others from Lewiston as they battled the blaze. Within minutes, they had the worst of the flames snuffed out inside the house.

“They put it out real quick,” Caron said.

While firefighters battled the blaze, paramedics tended to a woman down the road who became overcome while watching the commotion. She was wheeled into an ambulance to be examined.

Sabattus fire Chief Don Therrien said a teenage boy who was cleaning up a downstairs bedroom came across a sparkler and lit it inside the room.

“He lit one and it got out of control,” Therrien said. “He told me about it when I first arrived.

The downstairs bedroom and basement were damaged by fire, Therrien said. Other portions of the home sustained smoke and water damage.

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“They lost just about everything downstairs,” the chief said. 

In spite of the fact that the fire was out of the hydrant district, fire crews got the blaze under control within minutes after they arrived.

“The fellas made a good stop,” Therrien said. “Mutual aid is a good thing. We all got together and did what we needed to do.”

Firefighters from Sabattus, Wales and Lewiston battle a house fire at 423 Crowley Road in Sabattus Wednesday evening. No one was home when the blaze started.

Firefighters from three towns quickly doused a Crowley Road fire in Sabattus on Wednesday evening.


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