Blaze destroys Old Town residence

OLD TOWN – A fire thought to have been started by an overheated dryer vent destroyed an Old Town man’s home early Monday morning.

With no other way out, former State Rep. Ralph Coffman, D-Old Town, jumped from a second story window in his home but was not injured by the leap, according to Roger Sirois, Old Town assistant fire chief.

Coffman was transported to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he was treated for smoke inhalation, Sirois said.

When fire crews arrived on the scene at 2:55 a.m., about 10 minutes after the fire was reported, flames could be seen in the windows of the first and second floor of the building, Sirois said.

“The house was destroyed, [but] the barn was saved,” the assistant fire chief said. The barn is located next to the house at the end of a driveway.

A Chevrolet Cavalier parked next to the house in the driveway was destroyed by fire. All the windows in the house and the vehicle were blown out.

Coffman, who lives with his daughter at 16 Michaels St., was the only one home at the time of the fire. The homeowner told fire crews he had filled the dryer at 12:30 a.m. before going to bed.

“The fire burned in the wall until basically it was reported, and it was quite a ways through the house when [Coffman] was awakened by the fire,” Sirois said.

The family’s four cats and guinea pig were not injured in the fire, the assistant chief said. The house is thought to have been insured, and an insurance investigator was at the property Tuesday morning. Sirois said the Red Cross has been contacted to assist the family.

Old Town, Orono and Milford fire crews responded to the Monday morning blaze and cleared the scene about 8 a.m.

A 1998 fire at the Coffman residence was believed to have been started by smoldering incense in one of the bedrooms. The house was not insured at that time and caused about $6,000 in damage to the bedroom and an adjacent hallway.