LISBON FALLS, Maine - A fire in a two-story farmhouse early Friday killed two young sisters who were trapped in a bedroom and burned their mother, who was unable to save them, police said. Four other children escaped unhurt from the burning home.


After the mother tried unsuccessfully to reach her daughters, firefighters and a police officer fought their way to the second floor to retrieve the girls, but they could not revive them, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The victims were identified as 11-year-old Natalie Hogan and 6-year-old Kelsey, McCausland said. The girls' mother, Lorna Hogan, was being treated for burns and smoke inhalation at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

The mother was living in the farmhouse with her six children, who were being home-schooled, McCausland said. The four surviving children are in the care of a grandmother who lived nearby, he said.

Seven fire marshal investigators were on the scene trying to pinpoint the cause of the blaze, which was reported at 7 a.m.

Central Maine Power cut electricity to the home during the fire but couldn't do so without also putting other area customers in the dark. About 6,700 customers in Lisbon, Bowdoin, Brunswick, Durham, Freeport and Topsham lost power temporarily, the utility said.

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