Fire at a Boothbay Cottage Followed Victim’s 50th Birthday Party

Fire marshal investigators say Sunday morning's fire in Boothbay which killed two men and injured four others started in a first floor living room, but they have not yet pinpointed the cause. The home was rented for a belated 50th birthday for one of the men who died. Several friends had attended a birthday party at the home the previous evening. 

50-year-old Baldomero Zamora and his girfriend's son, 23-year-old Lucas Farias, died at the scene at 116 Pleasant Cove Road, His mother, 48-year-old Julie Gilbert escaped through a first floor window and is being treated for injuries at Maine Medical Center in Portland. The State Fire Marshall says Zamora and Farias were sleeping on the second floor and died as they were trying to escape the fire. Both men's bodies were found by windows in two separate bedrooms. The three were from Chicago, but Gilbert grew up in the Damariscotta area.

26-year-old Alexandra King  of Winslow, her 8-year-old daughter Harley Raymond, and her 4-year-old son River Raymond, escaped from the first floor. They were treated and released at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta.

The 81-year-old Cape Cod-style home, owned by Troy and Tina Lewis, had been on the market for about two years and was being rented out for events by the realtors.

State Fire Marshal’s Office investigators in protective suits and respirators examined the heavily damaged house in protective suits and respirators Sunday afternoon and will return for more work Tuesday.