House Fire Leaves Oakland Family Homeless

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A couple and their three small children are homeless after fire ripped through their Birchwood Drive house Thursday morning.

"The main part of the house is basically a total loss," Oakland Fire Chief David Coughlin said. "It looks like the fire started in a master bedroom, so we're just looking for a cause in that area."

Andrea Gilbertson and her husband, Greg, escaped the burning house. Their three children, ages 2, 4 and 7, were not home at the time.

As firefighters battled the fire in frigid temperatures, the couple was with friends, trying to stay warm in a vehicle parked on the street.

Andrea Gilbertson said she had taken her older children to school Thursday morning and returned home after 8 a.m. to get ready for work.

"When I pulled back into the driveway, there was smoke and I saw fire," she said. "I called 911."

She said it appeared the fire started in the master bedroom where her husband had not yet woken up.

"He was asleep," she said. "I got him out. The smoke alarms were going off."

The wood-frame, two-story house at 31 Birchwood Drive is about 10 years old, Coughlin said. An attached garage and room over it sustained smoke damage, he said.

The family had lived there for eight years, Andrea Gilbertson said.

Coughlin said the fire was reported at 8:20 a.m.

The state Fire Marshal's Office was at the scene Thursday afternoon, trying to determine the exact cause.

Firefighters from Oakland, Waterville, Sidney, Belgrade, Rome and Smithfield fought the fire, Coughlin said.

Police Capt. Rick Stubbert and School Resource Officer Tracey Frost were at the scene. Frost said he arrived about 9 a.m. and flames were shooting 10 to 15 feet out of a hole in the roof.

"From the Mobil station downtown you could see the smoke," he said.

Coughlin said the family would be staying with family and friends.

The home was insured, he said. No firefighters were injured in the blaze.

Originally published by By AMY CALDER Morning Sentinel.

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