BENTON $ A raging fire Tuesday night destroyed an auto repair business and home on Crummett Street.

Firefighters from three towns battled the blaze at Bulger's Body Shop & Used Cars and the home of its owners, Gary and Marlene Bulger.

The fire was reported at 5:37 p.m., and firefighters from Fairfield, Winslow and Clinton were still there by 9 p.m. Waterville firefighters covered the Fairfield station.

Fairfield fire Captain Jim Lane said just after 6:30 p.m. that when firefighters arrived, fire had already gone through the southeast wall of the auto business, which had been in existence at least 35 years.

"There are a lot of accelerants in there," Lane said. "That's a working garage. It's been there a long, long time."

He said the cause of the fire was not known and it would take some time to investigate.

The Bulgers' house, a wood-frame building, was an inferno as some 30 firefighters scrambled to control the flames. Christmas wreaths and a Santa Claus statue on the deck of the house were visible through the smoke.

With temperatures in the 20s, water used to fight the fire froze in the road in front of the house and business, located near the Kennebec River.

Crummett Street is off Bridge Street, which essentially is the bridge that runs between Fairfield and Benton.

Neighbor Ron Roderick said he has known the Bulgers for 28 years, and theirs was a thriving business.

"My wife saw the fire first," Roderick said as he stood in the snow and cold and took photographs. "She said, 'Somebody's on fire.' I looked out and you could tell it was Gary's."

Roderick said around 6:30 p.m. that Marlene Bulger has lung cancer and the couple's two cats had not yet been accounted for in the fire. He said the Bulgers are very nice people.

"He'd give you the shirt off his back," he said. "Any time I've needed help, he was always there."

Amy Calder $ 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com