NEW GLOUCESTER — It would appear the remaining snow is good for something, after all.

A group of passers-by are credited with dousing a house fire Wednesday by smothering it with snow while waiting for firefighters to arrive, an official said.

At about 3:30 p.m., New Gloucester Fire and Rescue received a call for a reported home ablaze at 920 Lewiston Road, fire officials said. The first reports were that flames and smoke were shooting from a porch at the side of a mobile home.

According to New Gloucester fire Capt. Scott Doyle, a group of passers-by stopped to call 911 and then used snow to extinguish the flames. When fire crews arrived at the scene, it took them just minutes to bring the fire under control.

“The owners of this home are lucky,” Doyle said. “Folks stopped to call 911 and helped to put out the flames with snow. That helped save the home. With today’s winds, things could had been much worse in a matter of minutes.”

According to a news release, the group that stopped to assist also alerted a resident that the home was on fire, allowing that occupant to escape the building without injury. There were working smoke detectors in the home, according to the release. 

“Had some of these folks not taken the couple extra steps and time that they did, there could have been a loss of life and the home,” Doyle said. “People at the home have a lot to be thankful for today.”

New Gloucester firefighters needed only a couple hundred gallons of water to snuff out remaining hot spots, according to the release. Gray and Poland firefighters assisted at the scene.