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COVE POINT TOWNSHIP - A small camp and a woodshed on a privately owned island were destroyed Tuesday in a fire that Maine Forest Service officials suspect was the result of lightning. Several boaters and camp residents in the area called the Piscataquis County Sheriff's Department around 3 p.m. to report the fire on what is known as Keep's Island, according to Dustin Pickering, a forest ranger who works for the Maine Forest Service. The island is located on Moosehead Lake near Greenville, and is between one-half and three-fourths of an acre. The camp was about 28 by 32 feet. Keep's Island also houses two other buildings that were not involved in the fire, Pickering said. Although the fire is still under investigation, officials do not think it was set intentionally. "We can't put anyone at the scene," Pickering said Wednesday by phone. "There were boats around all day, and no one saw anything." The Maine Forest Service and the Greenville Fire Department responded to the call. "A couple of people used their personal boats to shuttle firefighters out to the island," Pickering said. "We really had a good response from area camps and boaters." Firefighters used portable pumps and hoses, and water from the lake, to stop the blaze, according to John Cobb, Greenville's fire chief. "We were there probably three and a half hours," Cobb said. "It was a small camp, but a big fire." Janet Keep of Massachusetts owns the island and camp, according to the camp's caretaker, Ralph Murray of Greenville. The total cost of damage to the camp is still being calculated, Murray said Wednesday. The camp was a seasonal home for Keep. |