Fire that guts vacant house in Livermore set intentionally, official says

Apr. 14--LIVERMORE -- State investigators are looking into an intentionally set fire that gutted a vacant house at 1729 Federal Road, also Route 4, early Monday, Sgt. Ken Grimes of the Office of the State Marshal said.

The building is between Guild's Country Hardware store and the Route 108 intersection.

Chris Stanford of the Office of the State Fire Marshal was at the scene to investigate the cause, Fire Chief Donald Castonguay said.

The fire started on the first floor, Grimes said.

Some clothes in the house were being saved for a lawn sale, and mattresses in the loft were smoking and making a mess, the fire chief said.

Grimes confirmed some clothing was found on the ground near the intersection of Route 108, but it's not 100% certain they came from inside the house.

There was no power to the home.

The one-story house is owned by the Atkinson Estate and has been vacant for two or three years, Castonguay said. There is no insurance or mortgage on it.

The land is valued at $34,770 and the house at $29,525, Deputy Town Clerk Jean Tardif said.

About 20 firefighters from Canton, Livermore, Livermore Falls and Turner responded to the fire, which was reported by a passer-by about 12:45 a.m.

Firefighters had the flames knocked down in about 10 minutes, Castonguay said. They returned twice later in the morning, and the house was still smoking about 9 a.m.

Anyone with information that may be related to the fire is asked to call the Fire Marshal's Office at 207-626-3870.

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