Fire crews battle flames Friday afternoon at 4 Swains Road in Rangeley Plantation.
Fire crews battle flames Friday afternoon at 4 Swains Road in Rangeley Plantation. Tami McGarvey photo
RANGELEY PLANTATION – Rescuers pulled a man and his wife out of their burning home Friday as a house at 4 Swains Road went up in flames.
Rangeley Fire Chief Mike Bacon and police Sgt. Jared Austin went into the home to retrieve the couple as flames burned through the upper floors at about 3 p.m.
“When we got there, flames were coming through the roof,” Bacon said. “The second floor was totally involved. Black smoke and flames were already layering down and the people were still inside.”
The two-story home is both office space and home to Jacquelyn and Marshall Swain, Bacon said. The Chief and Austin first focused their efforts on Marshall, who has one leg and who wasn’t able to get out on his own.
“We got him into a wheelchair that was nearby,” Bacon said, “and got him out.”
Next, they helped Jacquelyn out of the house as fire crews battled the flames. Neither she nor her husband were hurt.
Rangeley fire crews, assisted by firefighters from Eustis, Phillips and Strong, were able to stop the fire before it devoured the home.
“They made a great stop,” Bacon said. “We saved the home.”
The house, which sustained damage from fire, smoke and water, was insured, Bacon said.
The cause of the blaze was being investigated.
Swains Road is a dead end between South Shore Road and Greenvale Cove. The couple rents cabins on the property. The family business has been in operation since 1924.
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