A house fire in Woolwich took several hours to knock down and required mutual aid from two surrounding towns.

At approximately noon on Friday, Nov. 14, a passerby reported smoke coming from a house at 259 George Wright Road in Woolwich. Crews from Woolwich, which has its fire department up the road from where the fire started, Alna, Bath and Wiscasset arrived on the scene.

There was reportedly no one inside the house when crews arrived, although there were people in a separate building located on the property. Woolwich Fire Chief Geoffrey McCarron declined to comment if there were any injuries after the fire was all but knocked down at 2:30 p.m.

Bath firefighter Joe McCole said that when crews first arrived there was a lot of smoke, but no fire visible.

"When we first showed up there was a remarkable amount of heat and smoke,” McCole said. “When we first went in, it was not a safe place to be."

As the crews worked around the edges of the house, large plumes of white and dark smoke began billowing from the cracks in the siding and gaps in the roof.

More smoke and arms of fire licked-out through windows firefighters had smashed. The fire appeared quelled, then would return with thick acrid smoke, before the firefighters could again dampen it. That recurring fire could be attributed to the way the house was built.

“There are inch-thick pine boards throughout the house,” McCarron said. “It's an old wood frame house, made out of real wood.”

As of Friday there was no cause given to the fire's origin and the state fire marshal’s office is expected to investigate.

At approximately 12:30 p.m. a Central Maine Power crew, armed with metal snips and a cherry picker, cut the power cords from the street to the house. By 1:30 p.m. the firefighters were focused on the upstairs and attic areas of the house.

McCole said it was unlikely that the house could be salvaged due to the damage incurred from the fire.

“The integrity (of the house) was likely compromised,” he said. “There is nothing safe about the house anymore. I don't think it will be habitable.”

McCole said the smoke and water damage, along with the fire destroying part of the roof, would likely render the house uninhabitable. The fire managed to snake through the walls and into the hard-to-reach places and caused damage that way, McCole said.

The Red Cross arrived on the scene shortly after the firefighters arrived.