The Sunday afternoon, Oct. 9 fire which destroyed the Vi Lee home on Beath Road, Boothbay Harbor started in the attached garage portion of the house, according to Boothbay Harbor Fire Chief Nick Upham on Monday.

"When we arrived, the garage was fully engulfed and spready quickly to the other parts of the house," said Upham. He said the call came in at 12:47 p.m. "We set up to keep the fire contained to the immediate area."

Lee was in an upstairs apartment and two children were in the downstairs part of the house and all got out safely. Lee had rented part of her home to Bill and Sherri Morton and their two daughters, Ellie and Elyssa.

Upham said Boothbay and Southport firefighters helped his department fight the fire and Edgecomb Fire Department was on standby at the Boothbay station.

"We had a good response, considering some people were out of town for the holiday weekend," said Upham.

Upham said the fire did not appear suspicious and that a state fire marshal was due to investigate the scene on Tuesday. He said firefighters cleared the scene about 7 p.m.

Mandy Scott of Boothbay, a friend of the Morton family, has started a GoFundMe page to raise money to help them buy new belongings. To donate, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-morton-family-to-recover-from-fire?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1