LUDLOW, Maine — A Ludlow man was left homeless Friday night when a fire destroyed his Town Line Road residence.
Allan Gillotti of 171 Town Line Road, which runs between Smyrna and Ludlow, went to his kitchen for a drink and noticed a flicker in a room connecting the two trailers, according to Houlton Fire Chief Milton Cone. Gillotti was alone at the time of the fire.
The Houlton Fire Department was notified of the fire at 11 p.m. and upon arrival, found the building fully involved, Cone said.
“The building was actually two trailers that were hooked together, sided, and then had an addition built onto the back of that,” Cone said. “As he [Gillotti] was walking down the hall, there was a window where he saw some flickering. When he walked down to the end of the hall, to the door leading to the addition, he saw smoke coming under the door and into the trailer.”
Cone said Gillotti phoned 9-1-1, but in the process of the call, he dropped the phone and was disconnected. He attempted to call a second time, but the smoke in the trailer was so bad, he was forced out of the building.
Gillotti, who recently had surgery for a broken ankle, hobbled out of his home without his crutches and walked several hundred feet to his nearest neighbor’s house to report the fire. Cone said that residence did not have a working telephone so he had to continue to the next closest house to report the fire.
“There was a delay in the fire department being notified,” Cone said. “The building was also sided with cedar, which is very flammable. All of these factors led to the worst possible scenario.”
The cause of Friday night’s fire was undeterminable, due to the massive amount of damage, Cone said. It was believed that the fire started in the back addition to the house, which contained a wood stove, water pump, and an electric water heater.
“There were numerous potential ignition sources, but due to the complete destruction of the building, we were not able to determine the cause,” Cone said.
The building was not insured.
Mutual assistance was sought from Oakfield and Hodgdon fire departments, who responded with tanker trucks and personnel. Fire responders were on the scene for four hours.
