Fore chief: Guilford apartment fire was electrical

GUILFORD – It appears a fire that destroyed a three-story home on Oak Street on March 20 was electrical in nature.

Although the State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating, it appears to have been an electrical fire, according to Guilford Fire Chief Allen Emerson.

The two-apartment building was owned by Brad Sletterink of Garland. Jackie and Brian Reynolds occupied the first floor and Barbara Leathers rented the second floor. The building also had a large attached barn, which according to Jackie Reynolds, was where the fire started.

Reynolds said resident Justin McIver honked his car horn, hollered and pounded on her door to alert her and Leathers of the fire. Brian Reynolds was away at work when the fire erupted.

Leathers, who had been released from the hospital recently after hip surgery was carried down the stairs by Scott Watt, a neighbor, and Chuck Bean of Sangerville, according to Reynolds.

Two of Leathers’ cats were thought to have perished in the fire, but Reynolds said one of the cats was found outside the next day.

While the building was insured, neither Reynolds nor Leathers carried renter’s insurance.

Emerson said a Guilford firefighter who stepped on a nail was treated at the scene.

Sangerville, Dover-Foxcroft, Dexter and Monson firefighters assisted Guilford firefighters.