LEWISTON — Firefighters responded Sunday afternoon to a fire at a single-family house on Libby Avenue in Lewiston.
While officials did not release details through Sunday night, neighbors and a bystander said they saw smoke and flames at 11 Libby Ave.
Debbie Cornish said she was leaving her son’s business at the end of the Libby Avenue when she noticed the fire just before 2 p.m. and called 911. She said a neighbor was able to set up a ladder enabling an occupant to escape the second floor.
“It was the son’s 21st birthday. He was the one still upstairs,” Cornish said. “The father, mother and daughter were all at Walmart when the father got the call. He left immediately, left the other two at the store. The son was brought to the hospital and I think a dog died. They put a cover over it.”
Firefighters cool down Sunday afternoon before re-entering a burning house at 11 Libby Ave. in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
Other neighbors said one occupant made it out with the help of a ladder and was taken away in an ambulance. They also said firefighters brought out a dog and covered it.
Neighbors said they thought there were also four cats living at the house, but did not know the pets’ status. The family later confirmed that three of the cats survived.
Michelle Wilkerson, a neighbor across the street, said she was sitting and watching television when she heard commotion on the street.
“I opened the door and saw the house fully engulfed,” she said. “I feel bad for them, I really do.”
One of the home’s occupants at the scene declined to comment.
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