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Home to family of five destroyed by fire

3 mins read

NEW VINEYARD – In the clear cold this morning, Julie Heath stood in the middle of a pile of rubble that used to be her home of six years looking for something that might have survived yesterday’s fire.

Nearby, her husband Reggie held their toddler Eric and watched his wife not find anything.

“We’ve lost a lot,” he said. Yesterday, at a little after 2 p.m., a spark near the dryer is believed to have ignited the fire that consumed their mobile home on Route 27, leaving the five members of the Heath family homeless. Reggie and Julie Heath and their three sons, Eric, Richard, 16, and Dylan, 13, had lived there.

“I looked down the hall and could smell wiring and then I saw smoke,” Reggie Heath said. “I yelled, ‘fire!’ and that got everyone’s attention.” He dialed 911.

Fire Chief Doug Churchill arrived quickly and could see fire at the back of the mobile home.

“By this time, smoke and fire filled the inside of the trailer,” Churchill said. He called for mutual aid help from the Strong, New Portland and Kingfield departments, which arrived to help fight the blaze. Water was shuttled less than a mile away from Lemon Stream.

“We couldn’t do much because the whole trailer was involved,” Churchill said. Fire trapped under the building where water couldn’t reach meant the trailer had to be torn down. By dark, the fire was extinguished and everyone left.

Churchill said the official cause of the blaze will remain “undermined.” The mobile home, which the Heaths rented, was owned by Mike Atwood. Churchill added that the Heaths didn’t have insurance. He called the American Red Cross and they responded with clothing and food donations. The family is staying with his mother in Chesterville until they can figure out what to do next.

Julie Heath works part time at the My Wife’s Place store just a short walk south on Route 27 from where their home was. Reggie Heath was laid off from his job at the Stratton saw mill a couple of months ago.

“I told my boys that we’ve bounced back before. May not have been this bad before, but we’ll do it,” Reggie Heath said. If anyone would like to help the family, Heath can be reached by phone: 491-4805.

Reggie Heath holds his son, Eric, as his wife, Julie, sifts through the pile of rubble left after a fire yesterday.

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1 Comment

  1. Uncle Richard, you have been through a lot and so hasn’t the boys. You will all get through this and you will come out on top. Just wanted to let you know that I am here if you need anything at all. LOVE YA GUYS

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