Heroes of the Week: Neighbors Rescue Dog from Burning Home and Firefighters Extinguish Blaze Twice!

Quick-thinking and observant neighbors in a small lakefront neighborhood in south central Maine noticed a nearby home on fire and rescued a dog from the empty home. The heroic neighbors were not named in the story, but they are true heroes! 

Of course, the firefighters from MANY TOWNS who battled this multi-home fire are also heroes.   

(Photo:   Crews are on the scene of a fire on the shore of Little Sebago Lake in Raymond, Maine on May 22, 2024. (credit: Julie Derice))

Neighbors Rescue Dog from Burning Home

(WGME) -- Two homes were destroyed and two more were damaged during a fire in Raymond, Maine on Wednesday, May 22nd. Crews responded to a report of a porch fire on Evergreen Road around 7 p.m. ET.

They arrived to find two homes on fire and say shortly after, two more caught fire.

At the same time as fire crews were extinguishing the first fire, Raymond Fire & Rescue says propane tanks began to ignite and vent-off gas. Flames went upwards of 30 feet in the air.

A dog was found in one of the homes encroached by fire and was let out by neighbors. The dog was reported to be fine by the owners of the dog.

The Raymond Fire Department statement reads: "As the fires began to build, power lines got involved and dropped to the ground prohibiting fire attack on some of the buildings until power was shut off in the area. Several area departments responded initially due to the fire’s location. It was nearly 2 miles off of Route 85 down narrow camp roads. The homes were along the shore of Little Sebago. A water supply was established at a local boat launch and provided water for apparatus, to refill and continue to extinguish the fire."

Two firefighters were also taken to the hospital with heat-related injuries.

A total of four buildings were damaged, two of which are a total loss. The fire caused an estimated $500,000 in damages. The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause.

On May 23. 2024 at approximately 5am in the morning the fire rekindled! TV crews reported a rekindle of fire amongst the heavy debris at the fire scene. Raymond Fire & Rescue responded to extinguish this fire. Rekindles and flare ups are common when Firefighters can not move or get through large amounts of debris. In this case there were heavy amounts of duff on the ground and reminiscent of structure that allowed the rekindling.

Heroic Firefighters from several towns responded to the scene and many others provided station coverages. Raymond, Gray, New Gloucester,Poland, Windham, Casco, Standish, Bridgton, Naples, Westbrook, and North Yarmouth and other agencies helped with the incident.