Fire chiefs Dan Carrier of Peru and Chris Reed of Rumford survey the scene of garage fire 833 Auburn Road in Peru on April 23. Peru Fire Department photo

PERU — A garage at 833 Auburn Road was lost to fire on April 23, but firefighters were able to keep it from spreading to the house, noted Peru Fire Chief Dan Carrier on April 24.

He said around 40 firefighters from departments in Peru, Rumford, Dixfield, Canton and Mexico responding to the evening blaze, with Med-Care Ambulance at the scene as well.

Carrier said they received the call at 8:11 p.m. for a structure fire with two adults and two children still in the residence.
“When we arrived on scene, everybody was out of the building. Once we got crews there, we were able to contain the fire to the garage. But the garage is a total loss,” he said.

The property is owned by Rick Cormier. Carrier said the Yeaton family was living in the home, with seven adults and five children.

Carrier said the garage had an attached breezeway to the house. “It was a very good stop. The fire never got into the breezeway, or to the main part of the house. There was some siding damaged on the side of the house.”

He said the residents were running the house off generators, hoping to switch to solar. Those were located at the end of the house, with a generator system hooked into their fuse panel.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal is investigating. We don’t know what the cause, but we’re suspecting it’s probably electrical,” said Carrier.

He added that resident can’t return to living in the house until after the Fire Marshal and homeowner’s insurance are done with the investigation.

Firefighters cleared the scene at 11:30 p.m. There were on injuries reported.