A Pittsfield man and his dog are homeless after losing their house at 103 Beans Corner Road to fire Thursday night.
The fire at the home of Larry Small is suspected of having started as a chimney fire, according to Pittsfield Fire Chief Bernard Williams.
Williams said Friday that Small said he had had problems with smoke coming back into the house so he opened a door and turned a fan on to air it out. He then heard a bang and saw that the chimney was nearly on the ground.
“It was partially on the ground and all afire along the side of the building,” Williams said. “It collapsed.”
The fire was reported shortly after 5 p.m. and Small lost most of his belongings in the blaze, according to Williams.
“When we got there, there was heavy smoke and fire out of the rear of the 1.5-story, wood-frame, single-family home,” Williams said. “We had heavy fire and smoke out of the back end of the building. Fire blew out windows on the second floor. It was hot in there because when that fire pushed right out through the windows on the second floor, there was serious fire there.”
Fire also was in the floors of the house, which had no cellar and was on posts, according to Williams.
The Canaan Fire Department was the first to arrive at the scene, as that department is about 4 miles from the home and the Pittsfield Fire Department is about 7 1/2 miles, he said.
Firefighters also arrived from Skowhegan, Detroit and Hartland, and Clinton firefighters stood by the Canaan department and St. Albans stood by for Hartland, according to Williams. About 30 firefighters were at the scene at one point, he said. Sebasticook Valley Ambulance also was at the scene.
Firefighters had the blaze under control in less than 2 hours, according to Williams.
“We had to do a lot of digging,” he said. “Most of the building was tongue-and-groove and we had to pull boards off …”
Part of the house, which was about 1,000 square feet in size, had a one-story addition that served as a bedroom, he said.
Williams said he believed Small’s house was insured. He said he had gone to stay with his sister Thursday night.
Small was born and brought up in that neighborhood, where several of his relatives also live, according to Williams.
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