WILTON – For the second time in nearly two years, a house owned by Richard and Stacy Austin has been destroyed by fire. No one was injured in the 4 a.m. blaze, but three dogs were believed to have died, fire officials said.
Friday morning, smoke rose from the remains of the frame of the Austin’s nearly finished home that stood on the same Route 156 site as their previous home, a farmhouse under renovation that burned in March 2004.
Richard Austin didn’t get to watch firefighters battle the blaze for long. About 15 minutes after fire crews arrived, a Franklin County deputy sheriff arrested him on charges of violating conditions of his bail.
According to Wilton Police Chief Wayne Gallant, Austin was allegedly under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs when the officer arrived at the fire scene Friday, a violation of the conditions of his bail for a previous arrest.
Austin was arrested in February by Farmington police on charges of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and a warrant for failure to appear on a charge of possession of scheduled drugs, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department arrest log.
Austin had been living in the completed lower section of the house, according to Sgt. Ken Grimes of the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Austin’s truck was stuck in the mud at the back of the house, he said.
More than 50 firefighters from nine departments responded to the fire that was reported about 4:01 a.m. as a fully engulfed structure fire, Wilton Fire Chief Sonny Dunham said Friday.
Some of them were called in for tanker trucks to help with the water supply. Water was shuttled to the rural area from the main stream on Pond Road, Dunham said.
State fire investigators plan to be at the site on Weld Road, also Route 156, Saturday morning with an excavator to try and determine the cause and origin of the fire, Grimes said Friday.
He expects the heavy excavation to be done by noon, he said, but the origination and cause of the fire may take more time to determine.
There was no insurance on the new house, Grimes said.
Grimes said state investigators called in Maine State Police Detective Mark Lopez to take photos of tire and foot impressions left in the snow. Grimes said the purpose was to gather all information possible and it would be decided later if there is a connection to the investigation.
Fire investigators along with state police, Wilton police, Franklin County sheriff deputies, a Maine Drug Enforcement agent and U.S. Border patrol agent were on site as of midmorning.
While Wilton police were at the fire scene early Friday, they observed two individuals known to Austin retrieve an unknown item from a vehicle at the scene within minutes after Austin was arrested, Gallant said. The two left in a van and Wilton police went after the vehicle and stopped it down the road.
After an investigation unrelated to the fire, Gallant said Lisa Worthley, 34, of Rumford was arrested on a charge of possession of Scheduled W drug – cocaine, and Mark Towers, 34, of Rumford was arrested on a charge of violating bail conditions.
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