A two-alarm fire destroyed a Murphy Road in Portland Thursday morning.
“Flames were probably 40 to 50 feet in the air,” Sam Silliman said.
Flashing lights and flames burned through the foggy morning and firefighters dealt with below freezing temperatures.
“It was just a frosty morning to start but we didn't have any icy conditions at all,” Chief Robert Shea, of the Portland Fire Department, said. “We were concerned earlier this morning at first, with some icing out. …."
Seven tanker trucks from surrounding departments also responded to help put out the fire.
Mindy Aresco, a volunteer with the Women's Portland Fire Department Auxiliary, arrived with food and helped keep firefighters full and warm.
“It's a cold day it's a big structure fire here,” Mindy Aresco said. “It's about four dozen eggs sandwiches for the fire department today. I started making English muffins and toast, slamming everything together, packing them up and rushing to get them down here for them.”
No one was in the house and Silliman said he’s just glad this morning’s fire wasn’t any worse.
“After seeing the flames in person and seeing how serious it was, I'm very glad that no one was in there,” Silliman said.
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Fire officials said the state fire marshal’s office is helping with the investigation into what caused this fire. The home is total loss.
