PHILLIPS — Two homes on Ross Road were destroyed by fire Thursday, Fire Chief James Gould said.

An older farmhouse and attached barn at 38 Ross Road was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, Gould said. The homeowner had escaped the blaze and called 911 shortly after 11 a.m. No one else was in the home at the time, he said.

The blaze apparently started in the house and traveled through an ell connected to the barn, Gould said.

Two cats had been in the barn; it was unknown whether they escaped the fire, he said.

Firefighters hosed the buildings from the outside, Gould said. A detached barn was saved, he said.

The intensity of the fire ignited a home at 42 Ross Road 16 feet away, despite efforts to soak the abutting home with water, Gould said.

“The heat was so bad that it actually caught the (attached) garage and then the house on fire,” he said.

The homeowner had been in the small two-story house at the time, but left in his car, Gould said.

The home and garage at 42 Ross Road also were a total loss from fire, smoke and water damage, he said.

That homeowner was waiting for the American Red Cross to help with housing and other temporary aid, Gould said.

Crews were still at the scene around 2:30 p.m., he said.

When the neighboring home caught fire, Gould called a third alarm. Kingfield, Rangeley, Farmington and Weld responded, he said.