Fire damaged the kitchen of a two-story Bullen Road home in Milford on Monday after the homeowner emptied cigarettes from an ashtray into a kitchen trash can.

The homeowner, Christine Nedeau, emptied the ashtray just before taking a shower about 10 a.m. Monday, said Milford Fire Chief Chris Matson. When she got out of the shower the kitchen was on fire, he said.

Nedeau and her two dogs safely escaped the burning kitchen, he said.

“When we arrived, the fire was contained to the kitchen and they were able to extinguish it quickly,” Matson said.

The fire caused a few thousand dollars in damage to the kitchen and the home was insured, he said. The remainder of the house had minor smoke damage.

Firefighters from Old Town and Bradley also went to the home.

Two contractors working on Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. lines in Milford were taken to the hospital Monday afternoon after an electric flash left one with minor burns to his face and hands.

The two male contractors of 3 Phase Line Construction Inc. of Farmington, N.H., were putting protective coating on the power lines around 3:30 p.m. on County Road when there was a flash, according to Susan Faloon, spokeswoman for Bangor Hydro. The contractors were working on energized lines, which is possible when using the appropriate equipment, she said.

The lines did not directly touch the men or the vehicle they were working in, Faloon said.

“It was not a burn like one would expect an electrical burn to be,” she said. “It’s more like a sunburn.”

The two men, in their mid-20s, were in a bucket lift when the incident happened and while only one suffered minor burns, both were taken to the hospital as a precaution, said Milford Fire Chief Chris Matson.

Faloon said Bangor Hydro’s line supervisor and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were at the scene Monday night investigating the incident.

“As far as exactly why it happened, it is still being investigated,” Faloon said.

Four frames of staging, valued between $400 and $500, were stolen over the weekend from the Merrill Merchants Bank construction site at 727 Broadway in Bangor, according to police reports.

The staging was owned by Fairfield Framing, a contractor at the site, and was reported missing at 7:41 a.m. Monday when employees arrived at work. Police reports said the staging was inside the structure that is now framed in, and there were signs of forced entry.

Despite the numerous other construction sites around the city, Sgt. Catherine Rumsey said this was the only staging theft she was aware of during the weekend. The incident is under investigation, she said.

The fire that destroyed a home on Route 222 in Levant on Saturday remained under investigation Monday.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office was investigating the blaze Monday afternoon, according to Sgt. Tim York, but no more details were provided.

More than 15 firetrucks, tankers and ambulances from area towns went to the fire, which forced the closure of Route 222 for several hours just outside downtown Levant. Apparently nobody was home at the three-story farmhouse when the blaze began.