Drew Plantation fire threatens home

DREW PLANTATION – Firefighters from three volunteer departments battled for several hours Tuesday night and saved most of a two-story house from a fire that flattened an attached woodshop and family chapel.

No one was injured, though the family who lives there had to find shelter elsewhere for the night.

The fire apparently began in the woodshop shortly before 6 p.m. at a two-story house on Tower Road, Reed Plantation Fire Department firefighters said.

The first company to respond, Wytopitlock’s, almost immediately called for mutual aid, firefighters said. Volunteers from Reed Plantation and Kingman eventually arrived, but not before the fire had spread into the home’s chapel, kitchen and upstairs bedroom, Kingman Fire Chief John Moody said.

“The workshop was flattened,” Moody said. “The fire was pretty well knocked down when I got there. We just got there in time to help save the house and put the cinders out afterwards.

“It was lucky, because it was an old house, and the fire could have spread fast. Reed [Plantation] and Wytopitlock did a real good job knocking it down, especially given the age of the house,” Moody said. “It’s got some smoke and water damage, but basically the house is saved, so they did really well for having everything all connected like that.”

Wytopitlock Fire Chief Blaine Irish could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.

Moody described the house as a two-story wood-frame building that had a toy-making shop attached to it, as well as a small family chapel. He said he did not know how many people lived or worked there.

The fire might have been set off by dust and sparks ignited or created when shop workers started vacuum cleanup for the night, he said.

Water and smoke damage occurred in the living room and the kitchen, Moody said.

Because the house had apparently been added onto several times, it had several layers firefighters had to peel away as they searched for hot spots, Moody said. Wytopitlock used a thermal-imaging camera to find some heat concentrations.

More than 20 firefighters fought the fire. Most were still working at the scene late Tuesday night.

Drew Plantation is northeast of Kingman and Mattawamkeag.