BRIDGTON — A family escaped unharmed from their burning home on South Bridgton Road on Tuesday afternoon, a fire official said. 

Homeowner Timothy Blair and his family, including an infant, escaped along with their pets, Bridgton fire Deputy Chief Corin Meehan said.

The fire started around 1:30 p.m. in a barn attached to a wood-frame house at 495 South Bridgton Road, which is Route 107, he said. Flames rapidly spread to the house, which had a one-story section with a 1½-story addition.

It was formerly a three-unit apartment building, he said.

Meehan said that when crews first arrived, the farmhouse was fully engulfed in flames and crews worked to stop the spread to neighboring homes, some of them close to the burning house. 

He said that although a frozen fire hydrant and difficulty in assembling crews delayed the response time, they could not have prevented the building’s loss. 

Neighbor Franke Miller said he had just sat down on his couch when we looked out his front window and noticed ominous black smoke billowing outside. He ran out the front door, and found the barn “fully engulfed” by fire.

Miller said it took between 15 and 20 minutes for the fire to spread to the attached home, and in that time he helped the occupants retrieve belongings and pets. 

“It was quick, really quick,” Miller said. The heat from the fire melted the vinyl siding of his residence, scorching his face when he ran inside to alert the other tenants. 

“It’s a shame. They’re good people. It happens when you least expect it,” he said. 

An investigator from the Office of the State Marshal was at the scene, and a cause had not yet been determined by early evening.

The property was valued at $164,000, according to 2014 tax records. It was unknown if the family had insurance on the building.

Eleven fire departments, including Bridgton, Fryeburg and Brownfield, assisted at the scene.

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