JAY — The owner of a Spring Street home that was damaged by fire Sunday said his insurance adjuster told him the two-story structure would have to be gutted.
The damage was much more than the $20,000 reported by the Sun Journal on Tuesday, Donald Knight Jr. said Tuesday.
The fire started when a lamp ignited a changing table in a baby’s room on the second floor. The rest of the house had heavy smoke and water damage, Assistant Chief Mike Booker said Monday. No one was injured.
Two rooms and other spaces upstairs were damaged by fire, Donald Knight said.
“I lost a lot,” he said. All of the beds, furniture and insulation are soaked, ceilings are falling down and hardwood floors had 4 inches of water on them, he said.
There were seven people living at the house, including Donald Knight’s son Travis Knight, Travis’ girlfriend, Jessica Baker, and their baby. The couple lost everything.
The younger Knight discovered the fire after smelling something hot. He and Baker escaped the house unharmed.
Donald Knight said his girlfriend and her two teenage daughters are now living at his home in New Vineyard.
The American Red Cross gave the younger couple and baby money to stay at a Farmington motel for three days until they move in with Baker’s mother in Dixfield. They also helped with baby clothes, Knight said.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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