DETROIT -- A firefighter died Monday while helping to battle a house fire on River Road that left a family homeless.

Michael Snowman, 49, of Hartland collapsed from an apparent heart attack and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, said Don Chute, Detroit's fire chief. Snowman will be sadly missed by many people, he said, adding that "there's no replacing him."

"He's probably the only guy I know -- you talk about giving the shirt off your back -- when I say that about Mike Snowman, that's no exaggeration," Chute said.

"He did what he loved to do and that was helping people. He was a Christian man and an asset to all the departments."

The call came in at 8:16 a.m. Monday with a report of smoke from a residence at 227 River Road. Madeline Wheeler lived there with her two sons.

Wheeler had gone out at 8 to get prescription medication at Rite Aid, Chute said; when she returned, the house had caught fire. Her children were at school at the time, Chute said.

About 35 firefighters responded to the call from Detroit, Newport, Pittsfield, Plymouth and Hartland.

At 8:36, Snowman was helping to hook up a hose from a Pittsfield engine when he collapsed from "an apparent cardiac emergency," Chute said. He was taken to Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, and an hour later he was flown by Lifeflight to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. He died at 11:50 a.m., Chute said.

Chute cited the stress of firefighting as a contributing factor to Snowman's collapse.

Clothing and a bed comforter had been placed next to the furnace and over an electrical outlet, and those items probably caught fire, Chute said.

The fire was contained around 9:45 a.m., and state fire marshals cleared the scene at 3. The blaze is not considered suspicious.

The house is still standing, Chute said, but he added that it has been "gutted out pretty bad" and the inside is a total loss.

The American Red Cross is assisting the family and has put them up in a Newport motel for the next three days.

Later Monday night, the Pittsfield Fire Department hosted a critical-incident stress debriefing for local firefighters to begin to cope with the loss of Snowman.

Pittsfield Fire Chief Bernard Williams, who was not at the fire scene, said he had known Snowman since Snowman "was a kid."

"He was always there to help," Williams said. Snowman worked at Amerigas in Pittsfield, he said.

Chute said he has known Snowman for 15 years. Snowman was originally a member of the Detroit Fire Department; his son, Benjamin, also was a Detroit firefighter and has since moved to Canaan, Chute said.

"Knowing Ben and the family, it's been really tough on me," Chute said. "It's hard when it's one of your own."

Williams said Snowman's death highlights an unfortunate reality about the danger of fighting fires -- one that these communities have mostly avoided during his time with the Fire Department.

"We've been fortunate here in this area," Williams said, "but it does happen. It happens all over the country."

Scott Monroe -- 487-3288, 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com