WINTER HARBOR — Bob Thibault was shopping for building supplies in Ellsworth Friday morning with his German Shepherd, Maya, when he received a phone call that his house was on fire.
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Deb Vanlieu was stunned to see what little was left of Bob Thibault’s home in Winter Harbor following a fire that triggered the explosion of several propane tanks.
Dean Katula
WINTER HARBOR — Bob Thibault was shopping for building supplies in Ellsworth Friday morning with his German Shepherd, Maya, when he received a phone call that his house was on fire.
By the time he arrived at his single-story, shingled home at 46 Dolan Road the house and garage were in flames.
“The firefighters asked me if I was sure I wanted to go up there,” said Thibault, a carpenter whose home is at the end of a long, wooded driveway.
Neighbors heard several explosions, which firefighters attributed to propane tanks Thibault used for his home and outdoor grill.
“I had two 100-gallon tanks for my stove and hot water heater and smaller tanks for my gas grill,” Thibault said.
Wayne Archie, chief engineer with the Winter Harbor Fire Department, said the fire had been burning at least one hour before the department was alerted.
The alarm came in about 10:30 a.m. Archie was at the scene in 10 minutes.
“The roof collapsed minutes after I got there,” he said.
Archie said the first firefighters on the scene tried to contain the blaze with a deck gun, which is like a water cannon, until more help arrived.
A. R. Whitten & Son Inc. was asked to bring in an excavator to peel back the roof so that firefighters could douse the inside of the house, Archie said.
He said the cause of the fire was being investigated by the state fire marshal, but Archie said it appeared that it could have been electrical in origin.
Jacqueline Weaver covers the eastern Hancock County towns of Lamoine through Gouldsboro as well as Steuben in Washington County. A New Hampshire native, she has vacationed in Maine for 25 years and has been with The American for three.
Website: ellsworthamerican.com