LINCOLNVILLE — A homeowner successfully doused a growing fire in her garage Sunday morning, Dec. 30, with a bucket of water and fire extinguisher, but not before tools and a window succumbed to smoke and heat damage.

Lincolnville's Fire Department turned out on the snow-filled Wentworth Road at 8:30 a.m. after a woman reported a fire building in her garage. The home lies at the end of long driveway that had yet to be plowed, according to Lincolnville Fire Chief Jason Peasley. At the time of the fire, more than a foot of snow had fallen across the region and the wind was still blowing at 30 miles per hour.

Firefighters responded with three engines, and its new tanker (its very first fire call, having been designated equipped and ready for service just the day before). Engine 1 made its way through the snow to the house, said Peasley, and when firefighters arrived, the whole garage was full of dark smoke. A window had cracked from the heat, as well.

The occupant of the house had apparently found the fire when she went out to the garage this morning and discovered a pillow of scented pine or basalm needles that she had put on a bench there the night before had smoldered enough to spark a fire.

She had, said Peasley, heated up the needles in a microwave oven the night before in order to release more seasonal scent throughout the house. The pine needles were in a pillow bag made for that function; however, the needles were burnt in the process, producing an unpleasant scent.

"She cooked it too long and it smelled really bad," said Peasley.

So, the woman took the needles out to the garage and left the pillow on a bench, he said.

The embers then apparently sat and smoldered, and by 8 a.m., reached combustion temperature and burst into flame. The fire grew enough to melt a nearby cordless power drill. A workbench was also destroyed.

"She's lucky she found it when she did," said Peasley. "She had it extinguished when we pulled in."

Nineteen firefighters arrived at the scene to help, and although mutual aid precluded an automatic response by Hope and Camden, Peasley dismissed that need soon after Lincolnville firefighters got to the Wentworth Road and assessed the situation.

He advises the public not to overcook pine needles, and in the event one does, to put them in a snowbank or douse with water, not leave them in any building.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@PenBayPilot.com; 706-6657