RANGELEY PLANTATION — Lightning is the suspected cause of a fire that damaged a seasonal home on Mooselookmeguntic Lake early Monday morning, Rangeley fire Chief Rudy Davis said.

The home on Birches Beech Road is owned by brothers Douglas Babcock of Manchester, N.H., and Phillip Babcock of Westford, Mass., and is insured. No one had been there for a couple weeks, the chief said.

Some next-door neighbors were on their deck and heard crackling sounds early Monday morning, sounds associated with a possible fire, he said. They investigated and discovered the home was on fire, reporting it at about 6:15 a.m. 

There was a lot of lightning in the area late Sunday night and some of it was really bad, Davis said.

The fire burned under the home then went up through a floor into a bathroom and utility closet where the electrical boxes were, he said. The fire pushed up into an attic space above the single story, two-bedroom home.

An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office arrived Tuesday. No visible sign of a lightning strike was found and officials may never know for sure what caused the blaze, he said. While the investigator will continue his work, there was no reason to suspect any foul play, Davis added.

There was a lot of smoke and heat damage, as well as water damage from dousing it, he said. 

“It was pretty severe,” he said.