Family of eight loses home, three dogs in fire

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    DEXTER — Fire heavily damaged a Silvers Mills Road home in Dexter Saturday afternoon, displacing a family of eight and claiming the lives of three dogs.

    Dexter Fire Lt. Mark Bailey said the home was unoccupied at the time, and a neighbor called in to report the fire around 1 p.m. “The Police Department arrived on the scene first and reported that flames were already showing,” Bailey said.
    The Dexter Fire Department was a little shorthanded due to firefighters’ work schedules and other commitments, Bailey said, “But we knocked the fire down pretty well. We also had mutual aid from Corinna, Garland, Dover-Foxcroft and Sangerville.”
    The home was occupied by Mark Alton, Tammy Stewart, Stewart’s daughter and four of her children. The dogs perished from smoke inhalation, Bailey said.
    The fire official said that while the two-story ranch home remained mostly intact, many of the family’s belongings were either heavily damaged or lost to smoke and fire. “Penobscot dispatch did contact the Red Cross to make arrangements for housing,” Bailey said. “The Kiwanis will also be helping them out.”
    The fire appears to have started in the area of a woodstove, Bailey said, but an inspector from the State Fire Marshall’s office will examine the scene early this week to make a final determination.