SOUTH THOMASTON – The fire at 57 Spruce Head Road in South Thomaston was slow to destroy the building, according to Thomaston Lieutenant Fire Fighter Earl Sutherland and South Thomaston EMT Elliot Scott. Had the house, estimated by some to be from the late 1800s, been new, the fire would have taken the building to ash far sooner than the 90 minutes it took Saturday, May 6. 

Saturday, May 6, firefighters from South Thomaston, Thomaston, Cushing, and St. George gained fire experience on private property opposite Gilford Butler School in South Thomaston. Owners of 59 Spruce Head Road donated the building for the training, both inside and out. In morning, firefighters extinguished small interior flames before burning the building to the ground in the afternoon. 

After the previous occupant passed away last year, Carol Robbins and her family offered the structure on her property to the fire department as a training site. Since autumn 2016, the training committee has worked to coordinate the day.

The department made good use of the offer, bringing together rookies and veterans of area towns to the property directly across from the Gilford Butler School.

Firefighters spent the cold, rainy morning setting and extinguishing small hay fires in various parts of the house.

“Today's training is a rare opportunity and the crews that attend worked like one departments versus multiple different ones,” Chief Calderwood said. “We got ten fires out of the building before we let it go.”

Three by three, the new, the unexperienced, and the unsure groped their way behind shuttered windows.

“A lot of participants learned a lot of safety aspects and strategy and tactics to fighting fires,” Calderwood said. “This type of training is rare and vital for learning how to fight fires mainly for the new firefighters and like a refresher for the senior members.

When everyone was given a chance, the kitchen was ignited. Flames took down the kitchen chimney and the porch before spreading toward the north side.

Only the center chimney needed help in falling, and that help came solely from the spray of a fire hose.

The scene was cleared after clean up at 8: 30pm. Mutual aid crews were cleared as the fire slowed.

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com