Strong home and vehicle lost to fire, occupants safe

STRONG — Two people escaped safely Saturday afternoon as a fire destroyed a home and vehicle in Strong.

Fire crews from Strong, Farmington, Kingfield, New Vineyard and Phillips responded at 1:14 p.m. to a call at 75 North Main St, according to officials.

Wilton fire crews also responded, but the fire was already under control.

Battling marginally better weather conditions than crews at Lisbon and Norway fires earlier in the day, firefighters at the fire in Strong were fortunate the most difficult part of the job was the cold temperatures, said Chief Duayne Boyd of the Strong Fire Department.

“We were fortunate enough we didn’t have anything freeze up,” Boyd said. “We did have to use an excavator to pull part of the house down last night to get the tin roof off so we could get spots where flames flared back up.”

Boyd said crews returned Sunday morning to extinguish a couple of more hot spots.

The fire has been preliminarily deemed an accident.