Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
CARY FIRE — Members of the Houlton Fire Department spray chemicals onto a vehicle Thursday morning in Cary. The department was called to the home of Harold and Melony Lowery for a structure fire. The house was a total loss.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
CARY — A family of four was left homeless Thursday after a fire destroyed the Wilcox Road home they were renting.
Houlton Fire Chief Milton Cone said the department was alerted to the fire at 9:10 a.m. Thursday when a neighbor, who was outside walking his dog, reported hearing a loud bang and saw heavy black smoke pouring from the Lowery’s home.
Harold and Melony Lowery and their two children were renting the house. Cone said Melony reported she had left the residence at about 7 a.m. Thursday morning and saw no problems at the time she left. Cone said Gerald Wilcox, who resides in Connecticut, owns the property.
By the time firefighters arrived on the scene, the home was a fully involved, and the second story of the structure had already collapsed into the first floor. The home was located on an isolated dirt road.
“The home was completely gone by the time we arrived,” Cone said. “There was nothing left for us to save.”
Cone added his concerns immediately shifted to preventing the fire from spreading to a nearby wooded area. The Lowerys did have renters’ insurance on the property, Cone said.
“We have had an outpouring of places to live and I am very thankful,” Melony Lowery said. “My family is OK, and that’s all I care about.”
Two dogs and two cats perished in the fire. Two vehicles were also destroyed in the fire.
Adding insult to the Lowerys’ misfortune, a lawn mower that was housed inside a storage shed was stolen from their property sometime after the fire.
Nineteen firefighters responded to the blaze. The state Fire Marshal’s office was notified to investigate the cause of the fire. Cone said he had not heard back from the fire marshal as of Tuesday morning.
