Jan. 25--MEXICO -- An early morning fire that went unreported sent investigators scrambling to locate the owner of the home that was destroyed here Wednesday.
Mexico Fire Department was sent to 108 Backkingdom Road at approximately 2:30 a.m. after Terry Crosby, a volunteer firefighter, who lived across from the fire called the station, Mexico Fire Chief Gary Wentzell said.
Crosby said a barefoot man knocked on his front door and told him the house was on fire.
Wentzell said the man, Levi Rajaniemi, 20, was on the second floor roof of the 3-story home for about 15 minutes before he jumped from the building and onto a vehicle that was parked in the driveway.
"He had a cell phone but never dialed 911," Wentzell said. "The fire had a good 20 minute head start before we were ever called."
Wentzell said once the porch had gone up in flames Rajaniemi then decided to jump.
Two other occupants, Garald Virgin, 40, the owner of the home, and Timothy Larson, 45, had been on the couch on the first floor when the fire started, Wentzell said.
Fire crews were unable to locate Virgin and Rajaniemi said he believed he may have gone back inside the burning home.
"We called the fire marshal's office right away because we believed we had a fatality," Wentzell said.
After three hours of searching Mexico Police Lt. Roy Hodsdon and police officer Dan Carrier found Virgin.
"He had walked out into the woods and then back on the road down to his father's house," Hodsdon said.
No one was injured in the fire and crews from Dixfied Fire Co., Rumford, Peru, and Roxbury responded along with Med-Care Ambulance.
Wentzell said the house was a total loss and he was unable to determine the cause of the fire.
"We believe it may have started near the wood stove or chimney but there is no way for us to really tell," he said.
Copyright 2012 - Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine
