FIRE REPORTED ON LOON DRIVE

LEWISTON — A home at 4 Loon Drive was heavily damaged by fire Monday afternoon. No one was home at the time. A dog had been in the building, but was reported to be safe, police said. The owner of the one-and-a-half story building, Richard Bradstreet of Wales, told police that his daughter and son-in-law were living there but had been out of town. A neighbor called 911 shortly before 1 p.m. A neighbor reported seeing flames shooting from the building's roof at about 12:45 p.m. Neighbor Jeanne Raymond, who lives at 3 Loon Lane, said she saw the fire from her window. “I saw a lot of smoke and some flames,” she said. “The house is gone. I feel bad for them.” When the fire broke out a truck was parked in the yard, she said. “I was worried someone was in there. I'm so happy they're all OK,” she said. Bradstreet owns other properties in the area, she said. Raymond said she knows Bradstreet's daughter and son-in-law. “My heart goes out to them. They're a nice family. You couldn't ask for better people.” Power to the street was shut off as emergency crews worked. Lewiston police Lt. Marc Robitaille said the Lewiston Fire Department's fire investigator is expected to comb through the remains later Monday once firefighters have suppressed the fire to determine its cause and origin.

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Bathroom Fire Being Investigated

LEWISTON — Fire officials were investigating an evening blaze Wednesday that apparently started in a bathroom at Gateway Apartments on Lisbon Street. Fire crews were first called out at about 9 p.m. after smoke and flames were spotted in an apartment on the third floor. Firefighters who rushed into the building found a small fire in the bathroom. They were able to snuff it out before it spread to other parts of the building. Police were tasked with rounding up tenants as part of a building evacuation. In the middle of that process, firefighters reported the fire was out. Nobody was hurt. Smoke ejectors were brought into the building and a fire investigator was called to the scene. The cause of the blaze remained under investigation late Wednesday night. Gateway Apartments is at 11 Lisbon St., is near the corner of Main Street.

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Woman, Child Ousted From Orange Street Home After Fire

LEWISTON — A smoky fire ousted some Orange Street residents Wednesday afternoon. Wendy Bryce, 42, and 3-year-old Harmony Nelson were the only occupants in the duplex at 24 Orange St. when police responded to reports of smoke at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Neither was injured in the blaze. Fire crews had the fire out and were monitoring it for hot spots by 2:10 p.m. Lewiston Fire Inspector Paul Ouellette said Wednesday afternoon that it was too early to say where the fire started, or why. The fire blackened the back of the building and burned away an exterior stairway. Ouellette said he'd be able to investigate the fire and to estimate damage to the building once fire crews had cleared the scene. The fire appeared to start in the back patio of the first floor. Bryce said she was baby-sitting the 3-year-old for her former boyfriend, Jimmy Nelson, the owner of the duplex. She had just put the child down for a nap and was doing dishes when she heard a knock at the door. "It was the police, and then they came and got us out of there," she said. The child was taken to a neighbor's house. Building owner Nelson, a driver for Coca-Cola, was called. Nelson's 5-year-old daughter, Summer, was in school at the time of the fire. "I guess there is nothing else for us to do but find a place to sleep tonight and call the insurance company," Nelson said. He said he used the back porch as storage. "There was nothing back there but some bags and maybe a Walmart bag with a plastic litter box I was planning to take back to the store," Nelson said. "There really was nothing back there."

staylor@sunjournal.com