RICHMOND, Maine — Neighbors and Central Maine Power workers are being praised after saving a woman and her son from their burning home on Wednesday. The house has been deemed a total loss, but everyone in the community is just glad they're OK.
"[We thought is] someone burning something like a piece of cardboard or something, then we look in the distance and see billowing black smoke," Jeffery Dyer Jr., who works for CMP, said.
Dyer and his crew were working across the street and jumped into action when they saw what was happening.
"When we get closer, we realize the house is actually on fire," Dyer added.
Dyer, two of his colleagues, and neighbors knew they needed to help. They first saw the son, who they said was about to jump from about 10 feet up. They helped him down and thought their work was done.
"[Then] he's like, 'My mom, my mom, she's still in the house.' So then we grabbed the ladder and ran to the other side of the house and thank God she was in the window," he recalled.
"It was a very steep roof, and she was very afraid about getting onto the ladder," a neighbor said.
Between neighbors and the CMP crew, they were able to get both people safely out of the home.
"As soon as I was able to talk to these guys and hear the story, it made me extremely proud. A truly heroic act," Adam Desrosiers, vice president of electric operations for CMP, said.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal told NEWS CENTER Maine the cause of the fire is under investigation.