Dispatchers busy with fires, vehicle crashes

DOVER-FOXCROFT – Four o’clock was definitely the witching hour in Piscataquis County on Thursday, as Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department dispatchers handled calls for two fires and two motor vehicle accidents, all within 30 minutes.

A mother, daughter and granddaughter are homeless after a wood-stove-related fire destroyed their home at 932 Greeley’s Landing Road.

Dover-Foxcroft Fire Chief Joseph Guyotte said that Theresa Scesny, 44, her 24-year-old daughter and 3-year-old granddaughter were not at home when the fire was reported about 4 p.m. When the first firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out the upstairs windows of the two-story home.

“They’ve lost everything,” said Guyotte. No one was injured fighting the fire but the family did lose a dog and two cats.

The home was partially insured, said Guyotte, and the Red Cross was contacted to provide immediate assistance to the family.

More than 35 firefighters from Dover-Foxcroft, Sangerville, Sebec and Guilford fought the blaze, with Guilford trucks drafting water from Sebec Lake.

Guyotte said a fire marshal heard the fire call on a scanner and went to the scene to investigate. It was determined that the fire began at or near the wood stove.

Meanwhile, Monson firefighters had responded to a report of a chimney fire when a call came in for a car crash in Willimantic. A motorist, Harold Flint, 42, of Monson, had reached for the cigarette lighter in his 1989 van when he lost control and went off the road, according to Piscataquis County Deputy Michael Gould. The van struck a driveway embankment and was airborne for a short distance.

Gould said Flint refused medical treatment even though he had several injuries. No charges were filed.

About the same time, another motor vehicle accident happened in Sangerville. The deputy at that crash scene did not return a telephone call seeking information.