Wind-fueled fire destroys Corinth home

CORINTH – Fire heavily damaged a home but firefighters working against a backdrop of chilling, buffeting winds prevented flames from spreading to a nearby barn that serves as the Little Paws Animal Shelter.

No one was inside the West Corinth Road home at the time of the fire and investigators are expected to return Wednesday during daylight to pinpoint the source of the fire, but believe it began in the wall between the main building and an addition.

Two men driving by the home and shelter at about 5:45 p.m. noticed smoke coming from the home, but thought at first it came from someone stoking green wood into a stove. Franky Quinn, 31, of Corinth and John Cutler, 38, of Charleston quickly realized something was amiss and turned around, as other motorists continued past them.

Quinn pulled up beside the home, in front of the barn. When he got out, his truck cab quickly filled with smoke that had been billowing out from the side of the home. Unable to get help through their cellular phones,

Cutler ran to a neighbor’s home to call the fire department while Quinn ran around the home trying to see if anyone or anything was inside.

The windows were blackened, but Quinn could see something glowing inside through the sliding-glass doors, he said.

Outside the home, smoke was became thicker and being carried across the road. The two men moved on to the barn, which was unlocked, and found four cats that they placed in portable cages while a neighbor took temporary custody of a beagle, the only other animal inside the barn.

Flames leapt out from the side of the roof, fueled by the wind, which Corinth Fire Chief Scott Bragdon said reached speeds of at least 40 mph.

“The wind was whipping the flames pretty good,” Cutler said.

The first of a large contingent of firefighters arrived within a few minutes and Corinth Fire Chief Scott Bragdon said they realized the full extent of the problem. Firefighters tackled the back of the home first, Bragdon said, wary that the winds were gusting toward the barn, located about 15 feet away from the home.

Other fire departments, including divisions from as far away as Dover and Garland and the neighboring communities of Levant, Hudson, Bradford, Kenduskeag and Glenburn, were called to ensure a fresh supply of manpower to combat the fire, which spread through hard-to-reach open spaces between walls and ceilings, investigators said.

Hours after the fire started, firefighters still were combing the home, searching with flashlights and a thermal imaging camera for any hot spots where the fire could start up again.

Owner Eva Allen was not home when the fire started. Her son, George Allen Jr., said she had been out running errands. Allen started the shelter several years ago with her husband George Allen, who died last spring, and takes in stray animals and unwanted animals that are brought in.

Tuesday’s fire was the second one in that home in recent years, with a faulty extension cord being blamed for the fire that, like this one, had done extensive damage inside. The home had been remodeled.