On Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 10:23 p.m., Lincoln County Emergency communications received a 911 call for a structure fire at the Brooks residence located 15 West Side Road, on Barters Island in Trevett.

Boothbay Fire crews arrived on scene within five minutes to find a garage at the residence fully involved and in a condition that it could not be saved.

Boothbay Fire Command immediately established four interior and exterior fire crews to attack the fire, and firefighters executed a dual strategy of containing the fire in the garage and protecting the house. However, due to the intensity of the fire in the garage, it had spread to the rear corner of the main residence and into the eves and soffits. Interior attack teams comprised of firefighters from Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport made an aggressive interior fire suppression attack and were able to successfully contain the fire and save the home and crews were able to knock down the fire in 25 minutes.

However, there was extensive smoke and water damage to portions of the residence and crews conducted extensive overhaul of portions of the residence to find and contain stubborn pockets of fire.

Fire command established water resupply capabilities with a drop tank established directly on West Side Road, and with tankers from Southport and Edgecomb shuttling water from the town common to the fire scene. Boothbay Harbor Fire operated the common’s water resupply operation, which required tight coordination between Edgecomb, Southport and Boothbay Harbor.

Wiscasset fire also responded, providing station coverage and backup for Boothbay. Over 33 firefighters were at the scene, with Boothbay Region Ambulance Service providing medical rehab and treatment for firefighters, and the Boothbay Region Fire Auxiliary also provided food, water and drinks for responding fire and rescue crews. Lincoln County Sheriff’s office assisted, and West Side Road was closed for two hours due to fire operations.

The American Red Cross is involved and providing assistance to the family, and the Fire Marshal is currently investigating the cause of the fire.

Boothbay Fire Chief David Pratt noted that “The garage was fully involved when we arrived and could not be saved, and we had a dual strategy of containing the fire in the garage while also protecting the residence. This was a very complex and fluid fire situation, and we were fortunate to get the fire knocked down quickly through the work of our exterior and interior fire attack teams, and the mutual aid support was critical in terms of working as unified group to extinguish this fire. Fire conditions inside and outside of the structures were very difficult, with limited visibility and temperatures exceeding 800 degrees. From traffic control, water supply, pumper operations and fire attack teams everyone work as a team and very hard to control this fire.”

Fortunately, there were no reported injuries.

Fire crews from the five departments left the scene and Boothbay Fire Department at 12:20 a.m. but then spent the two hours at their respective stations until 2:30 a.m. conducting extensive resupply operations, such as refilling air bottles, repacking hundreds of feet of house, cleaning contaminated gear and refueling apparatus.

Over the last three weeks there have been three significant structure fires in Boothbay Harbor and Boothbay, requiring extensive mutual aid support and coordination. Chief Pratt reminds everyone to take this time to check your home or commercial building and inspect smoke and CO2 alarms, fire extinguishers, and building escape plans. Additionally, inspecting wood stoves, chimneys and heating systems is an additional recommendation especially after the colder than normal winter season with increased demands on our heating systems.

Residents or business owners who have fire safety questions are encouraged to call Chief Pratt at 207-380-6247.