Fire destroys Jackson mobile home; mutual aid saves nearby house

JACKSON – A fire at noon Friday leveled a Sullivan Road mobile home owned by Marshall Lowe.

The trailer was unoccupied when the fire broke out, and intense wind helped feed the fire.

The walls and roof of the trailer were consumed by flames. Only a section of a wood frame addition and parts of the floor stringers were left standing.

The fire was called in by neighbor David Leighton at approximately noon Friday, and the trailer was engulfed in flames when units from the Brooks Fire Department arrived at the scene a few minutes later. The Brooks department is located about three miles from the Lowe residence.

Joining the Brooks department at the fire scene were firefighters from Jackson, Thorndike and Monroe.

Because the trailer was beyond saving, the departments concentrated on preventing the fire from spreading to Leighton’s nearby home, as well as the barn and house of Lowe’s father, Alfred “Skip” Lowe.

“We were very, very concerned about Mr. Lowe’s barn and house,” Brooks Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Archer said at the scene.

Archer said the steady 20- to 30-mph wind gusts blowing in from the east fueled the fire and carried the flames into surrounding fields.

The burning brush reached to the edge of Leighton’s yard. Leighton watered down his home with his garden hose to keep flying embers from igniting the building.

The wind direction remained so steady that a travel trailer a few feet away from the burning Lowe home was not even smudged.

“There was no heat on that side,” said Archer. “You could stand there in a T-shirt, and you wouldn’t even feel hot.”

Investigator Kenneth Grimes of the State Fire Marshal’s Office was at the scene gathering evidence but was unsure whether the cause of the blaze would ever be determined “due to the extent of the damage.”

Archer credited area firefighters for their quick response and teamwork at the scene. No injuries were reported.

“Everything went as good as could be expected considering how far along it was,” Archer said. “We [had] a lot of good help; we appreciate the mutual aid.”