INDUSTRY — A log home at 517 Federal Row was destroyed by fire Wednesday afternoon after the owner had lunch with the fire chief.

The owner, Bruce Moulton, 68, returned home from grocery shopping and entered his daylight basement then climbed the stairs and opened the door to find the main level of his home full of thick, black smoke, he said, as he stood in the rain watching the fire.

Moulton said he had only been gone less than an hour.

He left the home and called the Fire Department at about 3:30 p.m. but it was pretty much gone when they arrived shortly after, he said.

Moulton said he lived alone in the 20- by 32-foot log home. He had a full workshop in the basement that he used while building the home, located among the trees on the backside of Clearwater Lake.

Moulton said he had insurance but it wouldn’t cover everything he’d lost.

The home was a total loss, Industry Fire Chief Joe Paradis said. A State Fire Marshal’s Office investigator was called to help determine the loss and cause, which may never be known, Paradis said.

Paradis had had lunch earlier in the day with Moulton and described him as a “great guy,” a former police officer, mason and carpenter, now retired. Moulton bought the property and built the home a few years ago, he said.

Firefighters were unable to approach the engulfed home and basically could only surround and drown the building, he said.

Mutual aid from six area departments really helped, he said. The Industry Fire Department called departments from Farmington, New Vineyard, New Sharon, Starks and North Anson to assist.

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