BUCKFIELD — Dozens of firefighters from eight departments responded to what is being called a “suspicious” fire Saturday morning on Route 124.

Late Saturday afternoon, the fire remained under investigation.

The fire, reported at 7:30 a.m., started in front of a pellet stove in a single-family home owned by Kevin and Carrie LeClair. According to neighbors and Deputy Fire Chief David Knox, the family was in the process of moving out and no one was home when the fire started.

According to Knox, when firefighters arrived at the house, the first team found a hole burned in the first floor just in front of the pellet stove, so they believed the fire may have started in the basement and burned upward. But, when a second team went into the basement, it was clear the fire had started above and burned down to the basement, which Knox said they believed was suspicious. The Fire Marshal’s Office was called to the scene.

When firefighters arrived, Knox said, heavy black smoke was pouring from the house. The house is on a heavily wooded lot, so additional departments were called in as a precaution in case the fire spread, Knox said.

But firefighters were able to contain the fire to the house, and got it under control within 30 minutes. Firefighters vented smoke from the house by breaking a large picture window at the front of the house, and possessions that were damaged by fire were tossed from that window.

“There was no furniture in the residence,” and very few possessions, Knox said, so that made it easier for firefighters to move around. But that also raised the deputy chief’s suspicion about the cause of the fire.

The phone to the home had already been disconnected, and a Central Maine Power crew arrived about half an hour after the fire was reported to move lines for fire engines to move around on the property. Power to the house was still operational when the fire started.

Knox said he didn’t think the house was a total loss because the exterior walls remained standing, but the interior sustained extensive damage, he said.

Knox, who did not know whether the home was insured, said the pellet stove near where the fire started was not on when firefighters arrived at the home, but investigators were not sure whether the stove was designed to shut down automatically in case something went wrong while it was operating. One possible avenue of the investigation would be to check with the stove’s manufacturer to clarify the design, he said.

According to municipal tax assessment records, the single-story home at 144 Hebron Road (Route 124) was valued at $85,560.

According to a neighbor, the LeClairs lived in the home with their three children.

A free-standing garage behind the house was not damaged.

In addition to the Buckfield fire and rescue departments, departments from Sumner, Turner, Hartford, Minot, Hebron, Norway and Paris responded to the call.

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