BELMONT (Aug. 7, 3:30 p.m.) — When the call came across his pager just before 5 p.m. Saturday that there was a structure fire in his town, Belmont Fire Chief Ron Harford was nearly 50 miles away, camping in Bangor.

“I called my brother, Tracy, a Searsmont firefighter, and told him that as soon as he knew what it was that was burning to let me know,” said Harford.

Harford said he was hoping it was one of the food trucks in the field for the BelTek Festival, and not the large home, breezeway and barn that had stood on the property for more than 100 years.

“Tracy called me back and said fire was in the barn, and it was headed for the house, so I made the call for mutual aid and headed for the house and the fire,” said Harford. “I got there 50 minutes after the call came across tmy pager.”

In addition to it being a Saturday and early in August, with beautiful weather, Harford said his department was going to be stretched thin and he knew the mutual aid towns would be too.

“My assistant chief had gotten in a motorcycle accident last weekend and was in the hospital, my captain was camping, and everybody was on a skeleton crew,” said Harford. “We are so lucky to have had such a great mutual aid response to the fire.”

He said that Belmont didn’t have an engine on scene, but there were engines, firefighters and equipment from Searsmont, Morrill, Lincolnville, Liberty, Montville, Belfast, Searsport and Northport. Northport brought their portable cascade to refill the air bottles, Freedom was put on standby to protect Liberty and Montville if they had a call, Harford said.

“We needed all the manpower we could get because everybody was so hot working the fire,” said Harford. “By the time I got there 50 minutes into it, everybody was so hot and tired. That’s the problem with a summer fire.”

He said the metal roof on the entire building also added to the heat quotient.

“The metal roof was a hard thing to deal with, it was so hot itself. There were no hot spots last night as I was checking with a camera, but the roof was still 110 degrees,” said Harford

He said also that as far as their work was concerned, it was considered a save because they saved the structure, but with the amount of fire and water damage, it’s a total loss due to the extent of the damage.

“I'm amazed we were able to save anything,” said Harford.

Three investigators with the State Fire Marshals’ Office were on scene yesterday at Harford’s request, and he said the Fire Marshal is leaving the cause undetermined due to the extent of damage.

Harford said witnesses were interviewed by the investigators, and he was also told by some there was a strong smell of electric and/or plastic prior to the fire being discovered.

Because the house was so old, Harford said it had a hand-dug well in the center of the kitchen. It was an element of battling the fire that added another complication, because the firefighters had to be sure to stay away from it - no easy task in a smoke-filled room offering zero visibility.

“It was a good thing we knew to stay away from it,” said Harford.

 The home is owned by Rick Kidson, and he was hosting the 14th BelTek Festival of techno and dance music, an outdoor festival on the property’s 14 acres with camping allowed, this weekend. At the scene of the fire Saturday, Kidson said the remainder of the festival would be canceled.

Kidson was able to get numerous pet birds out of the house, with the four or five large cages set up under the shade of a tree across the street. Harford said the Red Cross was in touch with Kidson to provide him with a hotel room for the night, and Kidson was offered the Belmont fire station to house his birds.

“I have a large bird at home, and know how stressful this kind of thing can be on them, they can pluck themselves bald from it,” said Harford. “So I offered to let him put the cages in the station, where there would be peace and quiet to settle them down for as long as he needs it.”

As for the small crowd and the neighbors that wandered down to see what was happening, he had only praise.

“The whole circumstances, as bad as it was, the civilians and the firefighters and everybody just worked so good together,” said Harford. “From State Police and the BelTek security on scene to the people standing by. The people stood back and gave us room to work. And it was huge with that kind of fire, and with so many people, to have that kind of cooperation and understanding.”

Harford said he learned that Kidson has some insurance, but he did not know how much.

“It was an old but valuable house, as Rick had done a lot of work to renovate it and this is a real shame for him,” said Harford.

Friends have set up a GoFundMe site for Kidson.

The link is below the original story that follows this update.

BELMONT (Aug. 6, 7:40 p.m.) — An investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office was called late Saturday afternoon, Aug. 6, while firefighters from several towns were still battling an aggressive fire that started at the business end of a 1898 era home and worked its way toward the residence end.

The home, at 24 Lincolnville Road, belonged to Rick Kidson, who is a co-organizer of the BelTek Festival, being held for three days this weekend in the 14 acres of fields beside the residence. Kidson said he had owned the home since 1999, and lived there with his birds.

Maine State Police Sgt. Pat Hood had just happened on the scene moments before the fire discovered. He was there to check in with festival security, and said he saw smoke coming from what he learned from Kidson was a fully furnished woodworking studio on the south end of the home. Moments later, flames were seen shooting out of the windows and the call was made to 911 for mutual aid to bring fire departments from Montville, Lincolnville, Searsmont and Morrill to assist Belmont.

Kidson said he and some friends were able to get his birds out of the house, and their cages were placed under a tree across the street.

At the scene, and as of Saturday night, the cause of the fire remains unknown.

On the street, firefighters set up a portable water tank to hold water being trucked in from local ponds, and lines hooked up to the engines were manned by the firefighters, who first worked to contain and knock down the fire in the woodworking studio. Kidson said he also runs a plumbing business, and kept all of his equipment in that part of the long, old farmhouse.

The sound of windows popping and bursting in the inferno and tires exploding on a car burning in front of the incinerating structure prompted a call for caution around the scene. Central Maine Power arrived to cut off the power, and eventually, the metal roof of the center structure collapsed on top of the fire-weakend walls.

From the beginning, firefighters worked to keep the fire from spreading further north into the residential portion of the building.

“We were up inside, working to pull down the ceiling to knock down the fire that was trying to extend into the residence, but the heat from the metal roof burning above pushed us back,” said Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley, who lives in Lincolnville, not far from the scene, and came to help.

Kidson said that the BelTek Festival was canceled.

“I don’t know how anybody could have fun now, after seeing this,” Kidson said. “I know I couldn’t have fun. I have to figure out where I’m going, what I’m doing.”

This story will be updated when more information is available.

Related link:

• Friends of BelTek and Rick Kidson: GoFundMe

• BelTek (2008)

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com and 207-706-6655.

Harford said a witness reported a strong smell of electric and/or plastic prior to the fire being discovered.