DIXFIELD — A family of four escaped a late-night fire at their 97 Hall Hill home on March 30, according to Dixfield Fire Company Chief Scott Dennett.

Up to 30 firefighters from Dixfield, East Dixfield, Peru, Mexico and Rumford battled the blaze, called in at 10:45 p.m. Monday. Dennett said that when firefighters first arrived on the scene, the attached garage and breezeway portion of the house were fully engulfed.

The initial call stated there was possible entrapment, with children present. However, the two adults got out safely before firefighters arrived of the home, owned by Scott Berryment.

“The occupants were all looked at by Med-Care but no one was transported,” said the chief.

Dennett said the Office of State Fire Marshal completed the investigation and determined the origin of the fire began in the vicinity of a wood stove in the basement area of the breezeway.

“It appears fire escaped the metal stove pipe running vertically up the common,” Dennett said.

He said the homeowner has insurance on the building.

“It was a bit of a challenge in that area because of the elevation and the water system,” Dennett said. “There’s two hydrants up in that area, but neither one of them have very high water pressure, so you really don’t have a good flow of water. We did have to pull out firefighters for a short time once because we lost supply of water while making transition from one hydrant to the other.

“Without an unlimited supply of water like we would kind of experience in other areas of town, this one was a little bit of a challenge,” he added.

All operations ceased by fire departments at the scene around 4 a.m.

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