Gasoline sparks wood stove fire, woman injured

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — A flash fire caused by gasoline being poured onto a wood stove sent a woman to the hospital Saturday evening. Fire officials would not release the name of the woman injured in the accident.
    Houlton Fire Chief Milton Cone said firefighters responded to 51 River St. for a report of a wood stove fire with injuries. The report was called in by a cell phone at 8:34 p.m., but gave an inaccurate description of the home’s location.
    “We were dispatched to the end of Elm Street for a wood stove fire,” Cone said. “There was a little bit of confusion. The trucks went the length of Elm Street and were unable to find anything. The residence was actually River Street, which is the small section between Community Park and Elm Street.”
    The chief said attempts were made to call the cell phone to ascertain the precise location of the fire, but the phone was not answered.
    At the scene, firefighters discovered a woman had attempted to start a fire in a wood stove with wood that was not seasoned.
    “The individual thought they were putting oil on the green wood, but what they actually were using was a gas/oil mixture,” Cone said. “The gasoline flashed back and caused some minor burns around her face and neck.”
    Individuals at the scene were working to put out the flames with a home fire extinguisher.
    “The fire was pretty well knocked down with a fire extinguisher, but we caution people on this,” he said. “You have to be sure that the fire has not spread beyond its source of origin and the extinguisher you have is sufficient to do the job. The smoke and fumes can also be toxic, so the best thing to do is to get out and shut the doors to minimize the amount of oxygen available to the fire.”
    The chief said there was significant damage to the portion of the house that contained the wood stove. The 12-foot by 10-foot room was located in the back of the house and was an addition to connect the house with the garage.
    Andrew Marshall owns the house. The injured individual was not a resident of the home, Cone said. She was taken by ambulance to Houlton Regional Hospital for treatment.
    A total of 19 firefighters and three piece of equipment responded to the fire. The scene was cleared at 9:45 p.m.
    “This was a case where they ran out of seasoned wood and had trouble getting the fire going,” the chief said. “It’s not recommended to use any type of a flammable liquid to get a wood fire going. When it vaporizes, you can have flashbacks that can cause serious damage or injuries.”