A forest ranger in a Loudon fire tower spotted smoke coming from a fire that consumed two buildings and some brush on an abandoned Bog Road property in Concord on Thursday.
Fire Capt. Derek Martel said his department began to investigate in the area of 67 Bog Road at 10:12 a.m. after the ranger reported seeing a column of smoke.
Behind a locked gate and down a half-mile private drive, firefighters found two buildings “basically collapsed on the ground with a brush fire in the field and woods around it,” Martel said.
In spite of recent rainstorms, the sun dried out the top layer of leaves, which allowed the fire to spread briefly on the surface without burning deep into the ground, the captain said. It was under control about 30 minutes after crews arrived.
The cause was undetermined as crews began to head back to the station about 1:15 p.m., while police and a fire marshal remained on scene to investigate.
Martel estimated that between 2 and 3 acres were burned.
“This time of year, typically we find brush fires run on the surface. We end up with a lot of surface fires without it burning deep into what we call duff, that leaf litter that hangs around,” he said.
Without keen eyes in the fire tower, Martel said the fire could have continued to spread toward the houses on Bog Road, across from Cabernet Drive.
“Depending on which way the wind’s going, until (the fire) had found its way behind this house, it would have been going for a while,” he said.
Personnel from fire departments in Concord, Loudon, Bow and Pembroke were called to the scene to assist, as well as state forest rangers.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)