CARIBOU, Maine — Fire swept through a mobile home at 100 Dow Siding Road on Monday morning, claiming the life of a young Caribou man.
Jordan McEwen was found by firefighters in a bedroom of the mobile home shortly after 10 a.m., having succumbed to smoke inhalation.
The fire started in the back corner bedroom mobile home, according to Caribou Fire Chief Scott Susi.
The firehouse received the call at 9:58 a.m., and the whole back end of the home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived at the scene. Susi said that the back bedroom window had blown out and the flames were about five feet above the eaves.
Within minutes of arrival, firefighters located where McEwen was during a phone call to his family and cut a hole in the wall to extract him, but he wasn’t there; conducting a full house search, McEwen was found about 10 minutes later in a bedroom.
Caribou Ecumenical Food Pantry Coordinator Jessica Feeley said that McEwen was an active volunteer with them for about two years.
“Since he got his driver’s license last year, he’d be there every Tuesday or Thursday morning by 7:15 to unload the truck for us,” Feeley said.
McEwen taught Feeley and other food pantry volunteers how to use their smartphones, a process Feeley recalled with a big grin, and gave his time to pantry recipients as he listened to old stories and formed friendships.
“He was just a nice kid,” Feeley said.
According to officials with the Maine Department of Public Safety (DPS), McEwen had been living in the mobile home with his mother and brother since November, after the apartment house in Caribou he formerly lived in was damaged by fire.
Officials with DPS said McEwen was suspected of setting the fire in November, and Fire Marshal Timothy Lowell said that Monday’s tragic fire was intentionally set in a bedroom closet.
“It’s very devastating for the community … especially for the families … and it does take a toll on the emergency responders as well,” Lowell told a local news outlet.
Susi expressed his appreciation to Caribou’s firefighters and their efforts to extract McEwen from the burning building under sub-zero conditions.
“They did everything the way they were supposed to. They made a direct entry where we were told he would be without any questions … when they found nothing, they jumped in and did a complete house search to pull him out,” Susi said. “It was their job — they did it and kept going.”
It took the firefighters about an hour to knock down the flames, saving what they could for the fire marshals to inspect.
“It’s tough during the day; we don’t get a lot of volunteers … and the ones we had were worth their weight in gold,” the chief said. “A few good men can put out any fire.”
Fire marshal Lowell also credited the Caribou Fire Department for their rapid response and being able to save as much of the structure as they could, though rescuers were unfortunately unable to revive the victim.
McEwen was transported to Cary Medical Center, but further attempts to revive him en route and at the hospital were unsuccessful.
The Dow Siding Road home was deemed a total loss, and Lowell said that a working smoke detector was not found in the home.
Caribou Fire Department received mutual aid from the Presque Isle and Limestone Fire Departments.
