i EMBDEN House fire caused by smoking injures 2 women
Morning Sentinel
EMBDEN House fire caused by smoking injures 2 women
BY AMY CALDER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 03/30/2009

EMBDEN -- Two women were injured and taken to a Skowhegan hospital Sunday after they escaped from a burning house at 84 Cross Town Road.

Homeowner Gloria Lane, 63, and her sister, June DeLong, 47, got out of the house after DeLong broke a window, said investigator Ken Grimes of the State Fire Marshal's Office. DeLong suffered cuts while breaking the window, and Lane suffered from smoke inhalation, he said.

"They had a problem getting out because the porch was the only exit," Grimes said.

He said the fire started on an exterior porch at a cigarette disposal canister.

"The homeowner smokes, and that's where she disposes of her smoking materials," he said. "It was not a careless disposal, because she was putting it in a container."

He said officials are not sure how the fire started.

"It originated in the area where she was disposing of her cigarette," he said. "The result was accidental. It is an accidental fire."

He said the house was damaged heavily and the porch was destroyed.

The State Fire Marshal's Office is called to investigate fires whenever injuries are reported.

The Anson Fire Department covers the town of Embden. Anson Fire Chief Alan Walker said about 30 firefighters from Anson, Madison, East Madison and Solon responded to the fire at the old, single-story home where Lane lives and her sister was visiting.

The Starks Fire Department stood by at the Anson Fire Station, Walker said.

Somerset County sheriff's officials, an official with the Maine Warden Service and state police helped control traffic at the scene, he said.

Walker said Anson Madison Starks Ambulance Service took the injured women to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan.

A hospital spokesman said early Sunday evening that Lane and DeLong had been treated and released.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

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