Fire damages Norway home that sheltered cats, dogs

NORWAY – An infrared heat lamp was believed to be the cause of a weekend fire in this western Maine town that destroyed part of a three-story home in which a dozen cats and six dog-wolf hybrids lived alone.

None of the animals was hurt in the blaze, although one hybrid had to be treated for seizures, Fire Chief Michael Mann said Monday.

The home is owned by Earl Laidlaw, a lawyer known in the Oxford Hills area for his love of animals. Laidlaw would visit the house each day to feed the pets, which lived there because there was not room for them in his trailer in Paris.

The cats, which could freely enter and leave the house, saved themselves from the flames. Firefighters at the scene of the Sunday morning fire spotted several of them in the woods in 12-degree weather.

Neighbors apparently let the dogs out of their pens when they realized the home was burning and also called in to report the fire, the chief said.

Laidlaw joined firefighters at the scene. “He was nervous about the animals, but they were all taken care of by the time we got there,” Mann said. Laidlaw, who did not return phone calls Monday, had insurance on the Brackett Road property, which he used for storage as well as a place in which to shelter his animals.

Mann said Laidlaw kept his pets warm with infrared heaters, one of which was suspected as the cause of the blaze.

Fire departments from eight communities went to the scene of the fire, which destroyed about 40 percent to 45 percent of the house.