SANDY RIVER PLANTATION – A litter of eight puppies died Sunday in a fire that destroyed Thomas Gray’s house on Gray Road, Rangeley fire-rescue Chief Rudy Davis said Monday.

Some friends and relatives were able to rescue two or three larger dogs before firefighters arrived, he said.

The blaze ripped through the older-style, two-story house about noon, gutting the structure and destroying most of Gray’s personal belongings, Davis said.

The house was uninsured, he said.

Gray was visiting relatives in New Sharon when the fire started, Davis said.

A passer-by who lives in the area reported smoke coming out of the end of house, he said. The fire broke through the wall and was going up the side of the building then, Davis said.

“It was pretty involved when we got there,” Davis said.

About 20 to 25 firefighters from Rangeley, Eustis and Phillips responded to fight the blaze or shuttle water to the scene from a hydrant at the bottom of Dallas Hill Road.

No one was injured, he said.

The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen area but its specific origin is undetermined, he said.

M & H Logging used an excavator to pull apart the house so firefighters could do mop-up to extinguish any burning spots. Gray was also able to get in and get some items, Davis said.

“It was a total loss,” he said.