This story will be updated.
FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — A teenage boy was airlifted to Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston on Wednesday after suffering severe injuries in a house fire in Fort Fairfield.
The youth escaped from the home via a second-story window, Fort Fairfield Public Safety Director Shawn Newell said.
Fire personnel transported him to Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital in Presque Isle. From there he was airlifted to Boston for further medical treatment, police said. The boy, whose name was not released by police, is in critical but stable condition.
Fort Fairfield Fire-Rescue was called to a structure fire at 125 Fort Hill Street at around 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday. The family who lived in the home had been alerted to the fire by a smoke detector.
Firefighters found the home “engulfed in flame,” Newell said. For six hours, 23 firefighters from Fort Fairfield, Easton and Caribou fought the flames. Fort Fairfield Fire Chief Timothy Browning said the freezing temperatures that night made it more difficult to extinguish the fire.
Two adults and a 13-year-old boy escaped the fire unharmed. No firefighters were injured.
The home is a total loss and was not insured, Browning said. The American Red Cross assisted the family with housing for the night.
Various public officials in Fort Fairfield are collecting money to assist the family, including members of the Fort Fairfield Police Department, Fort Fairfield Fire Department and town office.
Newell publicized a request for clothing for the family, listing various garments and their sizes, on the fire department’s Facebook page. He also organized a fundraiser on GoFundMe with a $5,000 goal. A total of 13 donors had given $675 as of Wednesday morning.
