Trailer fire kills two brothers in Milford

MILFORD – Two brothers, one a disabled veteran, died Sunday morning when the trailer in which they were living was destroyed by fire.

Brothers Robert “Bobby” Spencer and David Spencer, both in their late 50s, perished in their home at the Riverside Pines Trailer Park just after 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Bobby Spencer was a disabled veteran. The two brothers lived near other relatives at the trailer park.

The cause of the fire still was under investigation Sunday, and three investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office were at the scene.

The bodies of the two victims were removed to a funeral home later Sunday, according to authorities.

A crashing sound awoke Jim Pond early Sunday, and when he looked out his window, he saw flames shooting out of the home next door.

He called 911 and woke his fiancee Denise Spencer, a niece of the two men.

Both scrambled to get outside to alert the two men.

“We ran outside in our nightwear and pounded on the door, screaming for them,” Denise Spencer said while standing outside the burnt structure two hours after the initial emergency call.

Heavy smoke poured out of the back door when Pond and Denise Spencer ripped it open in an attempt to get inside the trailer while waiting for fire crews to arrive.

An old English sheep dog named Princess lay inside the doorway, apparently overcome by smoke. Pond pulled the dog from the burning building. The animal later was revived.

Within minutes of the initial 6:38 a.m. call, Milford Fire Department crews arrived and entered the Route 2 structure, Chief Chris Matson said.

“There was fire shooting out from pretty much all the windows,” he said from the scene. “A neighbor, who is a relative, met the crews here and said most likely there were two people inside.

“The first crew here were able to enter [the structure] and do an initial attack [of the fire] and a quick search when they arrived,” the fire chief said, but both victims already were dead.

The flames were extinguished within 10 minutes of firefighters arriving, Matson said.

Bobby Spencer had moved into the trailer a year ago, and his brother, David Spencer, moved in about six months ago, Denise Spencer said. She said the Spencer family is very close-knit, and that’s why her uncles moved in next door.

Another dog, a pug named Keeko that Denise Spencer had given to her uncles, died in the fire.

A travel recreational vehicle parked near the rear of the trailer also was destroyed in the fire, and a GMC truck parked by the front door was damaged by the flames.

Firefighters from Old Town Fire Department assisted Milford crews with the blaze.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Senior Fire Investigator Scott Richardson, of the State Fire Marshal’s Office, said Sunday at the scene.