A farmhouse and its attached barn were lost Tuesday, Feb. 3, in a fire at 5 Hilton Road, authorities said. A representative from the State Fire Marshal’s Office would be at the scene Wednesday to look for a cause, Whitefield Fire Chief Scott Higgins said shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday night, nearly six hours into the firefighting effort.

By then, the barn was leveled and the home, although still up, had also been destroyed, Higgins said. An excavator was expected to be used to demolish it. Higgins named the property’s owner as Mark Fenderson.

Fenderson’s wife was home at the time and was believed to have reported the fire. She got out safely before firefighters arrived, Higgins said. He was not aware of anyone else being at the residence when the fire was discovered. No one was reported hurt.

Cattle were outside during the firefighting effort; Higgins was not aware of any animals being lost in the fire.

“A lot of overhauling needed to be done. There was quite a bit of hay,” the fire chief said.

The cold caused problems with firefighting equipment and made for challenging working conditions.

“It was frigid. Equipment was freezing. People were freezing. It was horrible,” Higgins said in a telephone interview before getting word of further equipment problems.

Whitefield had help from many towns, including Alna, Jefferson, Washington, Nobleboro, Damariscotta, Chelsea, Farmingdale, Somerville, Windsor and Pittston, Higgins said. Wiscasset covered Alna’s fire station.

Delta Ambulance also responded to the fire, reported to Lincoln County Communications Center at 4:01 p.m. Tuesday.