Hodgdon farmhouse, barn destroyed by fire

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HODGDON — The cause of a fire, which destroyed a 100-year-old farmhouse in Hodgdon Thursday afternoon, may never be determined.
    Hodgdon Fire Chief Royce Quint said his volunteer department received a call of a barn fire on the Barton Road around 5 p.m., but by the time fire crews arrived, the barn was completely destroyed and fire had spread to the adjacent homestead.
    The residence, known as the Barton Homestead, was unoccupied at the time of the fire. No animals were in the barn. According to tax records in the Hodgdon Town Office, William Heatherington owns the property, which was not insured. The home was also destroyed.
Contributed photo/Joanie McAfee
THURSDAY FIRE — Firefighters from Hodgdon and Linneus battled a barn and farmhouse fire on the Barton Road Thursday. The structures were unable to be saved.
    “The barn was totally flat and the house caught fire because the wind was blowing burning debris onto the top of the house,” Quint said. “Nobody was living there at the time. We tried to slow the fire down as best we could, but ultimately had to give it up.”
    Quint said the home was ablaze from the top of the three-story structure and he couldn’t risk sending people inside the old building for fear of a roof collapse.
    There are few fire hydrants in Hodgdon, so firefighters must rely on the water from tanker trucks to extinguish blazes. A volunteer crew from Linneus assisted. Houlton Ambulance also responded to the scene in the event that injuries occurred.