Chief: Five Livermore Falls fires since Aug. 28 not suspicious

LIVERMORE FALLS — Fire Chief Tim “T.D.” Hardy assured residents Monday night that the five fires in town since Aug. 28 are not suspicious.

Three of them were leaning toward electrical issues, one was caused by the improper disposal of wood stove ashes and officials will probably never know what caused the other, Hardy said.

In several of the fires, the occupants did not have insurance, he said.

“There was nothing really suspicious,” he said.

A couple of the fires were fairly close calls, he said. Smoke detectors alerted sleeping occupants that their mobile homes were on fire, Hardy said. In one of those cases, a couple broke out a bedroom window to escape and received minor injuries.

Firefighters also had a couple of good saves in town, he said.

Two of the fires were in houses on Sturtevant Place and Baldwin Street. Neighbors helped a sleeping woman out of the second floor of the house on Sturtevant Place. Both houses are still standing, with heavy damage on second floors and above.

Mutual aid assistance helped out, he said.

He encouraged residents to have working smoke detectors and to follow heating safety guidelines.

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