A wind-fed fire claimed a cottage on Johns Bay in South Bristol Saturday morning, the town’s fire chief said. About an eighth of an acre of grass also burned. However the wind’s direction, blowing into the bay, helped spare both a garage, 30-35 feet from the cottage, and another cottage about 75 feet from the one that burned, Chief Mark Carrothers said.

Horloff Sorensen owned the cottage the fire destroyed at 163 Miles Road, Carrothers said in a phone interview from the scene Saturday afternoon. It was a two-story A-frame with an addition, Carrothers said.

Sorensen was out the country, but friends of the family had been staying there, the chief said. Those occupants left the cottage around 10 a.m. Saturday; at about 10:30 a.m., a neighbor discovered and reported the fire, he said.

When firefighters arrived, the entire structure was involved in the fire, which was self-ventilating through the roof, Carrothers said.

The mutual aid from other towns worked fantastic and was appreciated, Carrothers said. He was at his son’s graduation from University of Maine at Augusta and some other members of the department were also out of South Bristol when the fire call came. Plus, theirs is a small department, he said.

Bristol and Damariscotta worked with South Bristol at the scene, while Newcastle covered Damariscotta’s station and Bremen covered for Bristol, the chief said.

A South Bristol firefighter was treated at a local hospital for dehydration or another problem; the fairly rough terrain and the narrow road were challenges Saturday, Carrothers said. Firefighters had to lay 1,500 feet of four-inch hose, he said.

Power had to be shut off for Miles Road due to the fire, Carrothers said. Central Maine Power was preparing to restore it late Saturday afternoon.

At the time of the interview, an excavator had just taken down the cottage’s chimneys and some walls.

No pets were lost in the fire, Carrothers said.

An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office visited the scene but a cause was not yet known and, due the extent of the damage, may remain unknown, the chief said.