By DENISE A. RAYMO
MALONE — Pat Carr had taken his wife and two children out to dinner in Malone Thursday when the family got a call that changed their lives.
Their home at 264 County Road 25 (Duane Street Road) was on fire.
Malone Callfiremen were called out at 6:07 p.m. and found the home engulfed in flames.
"By the time we got there, it was too gone," Carr said, standing in his driveway about 18 hours after the fire.
"They said it was accidental," he said and pointed to the rear of the house. "It started in the back corner. There was a wood boiler there."
Carr, his wife, Trish, their 2-year-old son, David, and 6-month-old daughter, Ava, are staying with relatives until they figure out what they want to do.
"Friends and family have been unreal," he said, offering help of all kinds as they deal with the tragedy.
The home is less than a mile south of Titus Mountain Ski Center, with a tremendous view of the Salmon River across the highway.
"We love it here," Carr said, but he wasn't sure yet if the family would rebuild on the site.
Friday icicles hung like small teeth from the top of every window frame where the glass has been smashed out.
A section of metal roofing on the left side of the house remained intact but the rest of the roof lay in a charred, twisted pile on the south side of the gutted building.
Firefighters from Owls Head/Mountain View and Bangor were called in for mutual aid, and investigators from the Franklin County Cause and Origin Team were on hand to determine the exact cause of the blaze.
Malone firefighters reported back to their station at 3:12 a.m., according to County Fire Control dispatchers.
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com
