CAMDEN –.Camden, Hope, Lincolnville Rockport and Union firefighters spent the afternoon and well in to the evening April 8 fighting a blaze that destroyed a three-story home and sent sparks into the woods, alighting smaller fires in the early spring dry grass.

The call came in to Knox Regional Communications Center in Rockland just before 2 p.m. of a rapidly spreading fire at 25 Fox Trail, a subdivision extension of Annis Road in Camden. The fire was evident from miles away as thick, black smoke filled the air above the wooded residential area.

Approximately 40 firefighters responded with apparatus, and set up two portable water tanks that they filled and refilled, as tankers traveled back and forth from the nearest hydrant two miles away on Mechanic Street.

With hoses, crews doused the burning structure, while others poured through woods, stomping out the smaller fires that had been started by sparks rising high into the air and spreading over the trees.

Homeowner Kevin Wescott ran across the street, asking neighbors to call 911, while other neighbors ran to the scene to help. Wescott did not stay at the scene.

Next door neighbor Holly Anderson noticed the flames and ran through the woods. On the porch was an old Husky, which she scooped up, and pulled to safety.

“I am just glad I was there and able to help a neighbor,” she said. “His dog was scared and confused, and I came upon her at just the right moment.

Both the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office and the Maine Forest Service are investigating the cause of the fire. According to Camden Fire Chief Chris Farley, there were numerous ash piles outside the house, from wood stoves.

“Because of the extent of the damage and not being able to talk with the homeowners, who were there when the fire was reported, we probably won’t know more than that,” he said.

An excavator arrived at just after 6:30 p.m. to level what was left of the house, and eliminate chances for flames to reignite.

By 9 p.m., firefighters finally left the scene, and where a house once stood this morning was now a blackened and charred empty space, save for belongings scattered about the yard, and a sailboat.