Pipe-thawing blamed for Weston home fire

WESTON – Pipes being thawed was blamed for a fire Saturday that destroyed a two-story house on Route 1.

John and Carolyn Ficket were not at home when a passer-by reported the fire at their house at about noon, according to Danforth Fire Chief Duane Young.

Heavy smoke was billowing from the back of the house when Danforth firefighters arrived, and flames were coming through a back corner, Young said Saturday, adding that the basement also was engulfed in flames.

Mutual aid was called in from the Hodgdon and Haynesville fire departments, which each sent a tanker and personnel to assist 10 Danforth firefighters who brought two pumpers and a tanker.

Firefighters initially tried to fight the fire from inside the house. They were able to extinguish it in a couple of rooms, Young said, before they had to leave because the water supply was low.

Firefighters had to cut through the ice at Grand Lake at Butterfield Landing to get water to fill tankers. Once there was a good water supply, Young said, an attempt again was made to fight the fire inside the house.

The older two-story house, which once served as a town office and home of the town clerk, was built with balloon construction, with no fire stops in the walls. That left an open space in the walls from the basement to the roof eaves in which the fire could travel.

A thermal imaging camera belonging to the Hodgdon Fire Department was used to determine that the fire was in all the walls and half the roof area, Young said. For firefighters’ safety, the decision was made that the house could not be saved.

The Fickets returned home while firefighters were still at the scene. They told Young that, earlier Saturday morning, they had thawed some frozen pipes in the basement and had left a propane heater running to keep the pipes from refreezing.

Young said the fire appeared to have started in the basement.

The Fickets lost all of their belongings, but were insured, Young said. They are staying temporarily with a relative in Weston.

Firefighters remained at the scene until about 4 p.m.