SEARSMONT — A 12-year-old Searsmont boy is being called a hero by Searsmont Fire Department 2nd Lt. Tracy Harford Wednesday, after he sprung into action moments after getting off the school bus and put out a fire burning his family's house.

Lincoln Graf is a seventh-grader at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. He lives at 115 North Main Street (Route 131/173) and said he got off the bus a little before 3 p.m. and saw smoke all around his house.

"I was a little confused, so I went up the driveway and around the corner of the house and saw flames coming through the wall," said Graf.

Asked what his first though was, he said, "Crap, I don't want my house to burn down."

So Lincoln said he grabbed a garden hose and started spraying the flames, where he saw they were the biggest. He said once the flames turned to smoke, he kept spraying water to put out more flames until all he saw was smoke.

Inside the house working, Lincoln's mother, Jackie, was oblivious to the excitement outside. She had no idea there was a fire, or that her son was home from school and putting it out.

"He hosed down the fire, and then nonchalantly came inside and said, 'Mom, do you know the house is on fire?'" said Jackie. "I yelled, 'What?!' and told him to go stand outside with the hose until the fire department got there."

During the incident, Lincoln said he felt nervous at first, but then he felt happy and excited that he was able to do what he did.

"It wasn't too hard to put the fire out," said Lincoln.

Lincoln said he didn't have much experience putting out fires, and was only a Boy Scout “for a little while” when he was younger. He said he has put out camp fires, and pointed to an adventure camp that he said helped him learn what to do.

2nd Lt. Harford, as well as Jackie Graf, were quick to laud praise on the young lad for his actions, and calm demeanor.

"I told him when he turns 16, to come to the fire department and I'll make him a junior firefighter," said Harford.

Lincoln's mother said, "I'm pretty happy he was quick thinking."

Harford said the cause of the fire was most likely sun reflecting off an aluminum lid from a pot outside, next to the house. The lid reflected the sun and heat, like a magnifying glass, beaming it onto the older house's cedar shingle siding until the heat ignited into flames.

The Searsmont Fire Department was called out at around 3:08 p.m. on Sept. 2, and mutual aid was also requested from the towns of Morrill, Montville, Lincolnville and Appleton. Harford said that once the first firefighters arrived on scene and saw that Lincoln had knocked the fire down, they canceled the mutual aid request.

Harford said that the fire damage was hard to determine, but said about a 2-foot by 3-foot area burned. Harford said that the fire burned long and hot enough to breach through to the studs, which were also burned, but that it had not burned beyond the Sheetrock into the house. Five firefighters from Searsmont responded to the call.

Lincoln said that nobody in his family is a firefighter, but that after he put this fire out, he said "I'm thinking about doing it."

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com and 706-6655.