Chief Roy Stone of the West Frankfort Fire Department said Tuesday that a neighbor reported the fire about 2:30 p.m. Monday. Firefighters who went to the home found no one there but windows were beginning to explode from the heat of the fire inside the house.
“The Fire Department did a great job and was able to extinguish it pretty fast, but unfortunately the home was a total loss,” Stone said.
Twenty firefighters from West Frankfort , Frankfort Village, Winterport and Searsport fought the fire.
The house, which belonged to Paul Tripp, was not insured. He said that Tripp had left to go to work and his two children were at school when the fire began. It may have started in the vicinity of the oil furnace, Stone said.
“That’s not a definite, but it seems to be the most likely explanation,” he said.
A dog, cat and ferret perished in the blaze, which was investigated Tuesday morning by the Maine state fire marshal’s office. It is not considered to be suspicious “at all,” Stone said.
The Red Cross is assisting the Tripp family and put them up Monday night in a motel.
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