In the early hours of New Year's Day, a fire broke out at a barn in Atkinson, Maine. Photo / Colby Simmons
In the early hours of New Year's Day, a fire broke out at a barn in Atkinson, Maine. Photo / Colby Simmons
Three teenage boys were driving home from a friend’s house in the early hours of New Year’s Day when they saw a bright orange glow in the distant sky.
“It looked like a sunset and we drove towards it,” said Colby Simmons, 16, who was with the two other teens in Atkinson, Maine, about 48km from Bangor.
As they approached, they realised what it was.
“It was a house on fire,” Robert Weymouth, also 16, said.
Weymouth and his cousin, Kaleb Weymouth, 14, called 911 while Simmons knocked on the front door. Hearing no response, Simmons walked into the burning home – a two-storey farmhouse attached to a large barn. Fortunately, there were no animals inside the barn.
It was about 1.20am and the teens said the left corner of the barn was in flames, but it was rapidly spreading to the farmhouse.
“I knew that there were probably people in there,” Colby said, adding that the two others followed him into the house after they called 911. “They were right behind me.”
When fire crews arrived, the entire barn was engulfed. Photo / Colby Simmons
“It was a little nerve-racking,” Robert said. “Everything happened really quick.”
They walked into the unlocked house, screaming, “Your house is on fire!” said Kaleb. They saw a man fast asleep.
“As soon as you walk in the door, one was asleep on the couch,” Kaleb said. “He was pretty close to the flames.”
The teens woke him and he ran to get his wife, who was sleeping in their bedroom on the first floor, Kaleb said. The couple scrambled to get dressed, and the teens said they helped them grab a few important belongings, including medication.
The fire had spread considerably after they got the couple out of the house, the teens said.
“If we gave it another 20 minutes, the whole house would have been on fire where they were sleeping,” Colby said. “I’m just happy we got them out safely and nobody was harmed.”
The boys said the couple were shaken up by the fire, but relieved they got out before it was too late.
“They were really grateful,” Robert said.
The couple did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Post. Brian Gaudet, chief of Dover-Foxcroft Fire Department, the nearest fire station to Atkinson, said he thought the husband and wife were in their late 60s.
Twelve fire departments from three nearby counties were called to the scene and firefighters battled the blaze until about 8am, then returned from 11am to 4pm because of a rekindling in the farmhouse attic. The teens stayed with the couple for several hours of the night.
“We stuck around until about 4,” Kaleb said. “We just wanted to make sure they’d be all right.”
Although the crews were able to salvage some personal belongings from the home, “all in all, it’s a complete loss”, Gaudet said, adding the cause of the fire was under investigation, “but it’s not suspicious”.
No one was harmed in the fire, which was first reported by Bangor Daily News. The couple were staying with family and friends for now, Gaudet said, and were thankful to the teens for rescuing them.
“What they did was very heroic, and without a doubt it probably saved both of those people’s lives,” he said. “I believe if the boys didn’t act when they acted, it could have been a different outcome.”
The teenage boys followed the bright orange light and soon realised a building was on fire. Photo / Robert Weymouth
Gaudet said every situation was different and bystanders needed to assess an emergency scene before deciding whether it was safe to intervene or too dangerous.
“You always have to weigh the risk,” he said.
Atkinson is a tiny rural township with a population of about 326. Given how sparsely populated the area is, “who knows when the next person would have been by”, said Gaudet, noting that the boys made the first call about the fire.
