UNION, Maine — The Maine Fire Marshal’s Office has identified the man killed in a house fire in Union early Wednesday.
The body of Lawrence Dries, 80, was found in a first floor bathroom of his two-story farmhouse, according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland.
A passerby reported the fire at a house on South Union Road around 1:45 a.m. The house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, McCausland said. Seven area fire departments responded to help fight the fire.
Dries, the former manager of the J.J. Newberry department store in Rockland, lived alone at the home, according to McCausland.
The Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire started in the kitchen, but couldn’t find the exact cause because of the extend of the damage, McCausland said.
An excavator tore down what remained of the house Wednesday morning and firefighters continued to douse the rubble with water to prevent the fire from sparking back up.