Fire in Wallagrass destroys mobile home

WALLAGRASS – A fire of unknown origin Tuesday morning destroyed a mobile home and left a family homeless.

A garage was in flames when firefighters arrived from Fort Kent, nearly five miles away. The home, attached to the garage by a breezeway, could not be saved.

Gil Blier, captain of the Fort Kent Volunteer Fire Department, said the call came in shortly after 8 a.m. No one from the Shawn Madore family, who rented the mobile home from Jim Harquail of New Jersey, was home at the time.

Blier said flames had made their way into the home before firefighters arrived.

“We have no clue on how it started,” Blier said. “Everything was burned beyond recognition.”

Along with damage from the flames, the interior of the home had serious damage from water and smoke, Blier said.

He said the contents of the home were insured, but he did not know about the structure. Fire officials had not reached the owner by midday.

Blier said he had 19 firefighters at the scene for more than two hours.

Traffic on Route 11 was stopped for about 90 minutes. The water source for firefighters was a farm pond across the road.

There were no injuries.