Two fires – one which destroyed a home in Allenstown but injured no one, and another that caused minor damage to a garage in Loudon – were reported within a half-hour of each other last Saturday morning, forcing firefighters from 15 departments into action simultaneously at the two sites.
The call for the house fire at 28 Fullam Circle in Allenstown came in at 7:02 a.m., according to an email sent by Allenstown fire Chief Paul St. Germain. Firefighters from that department arrived at the house at 7:10 a.m., Germain said.
The Concord Fire Department was dispatched at about 7:15 a.m. as part of a second alarm, said Concord fire Chief Dan Andrus.
Also responding were firefighters from: Hooksett, Pembroke, Bow, Dunbarton, Epsom, Chichester, Pittsfield and Deerfield. St. Germain said additional personnel from TriTown EMS and the Capital Area Mutual Aid Coordinator were also on hand.
Two residents were home at the time of the fire, and both made it out safely, along with their two pets, St. Germain said. He described the house as a single-wide mobile home.
“The cause of the fire was speculated by the homeowner to be from an electrical space heater they had been using in their kitchen,” St. Germain said in his email, “but this was not confirmed by us, as the home was a total loss.”
The garage fire at 31 Bert Lane in Loudon was called in at 7:24 a.m., said Loudon fire Chief Tom Blanchette, by the garage’s owner, who called 911 and was attempting to douse the fire when firefighters arrived.
The fire was under control in about 20 minutes, causing about $10,000 worth of damage but leaving the main structure intact.
“We were able to get ahead of it before it got ahead of us,” Blanchette said. “It was most likely accidental and caused by discarded smoking materials. It was in an area where they stored a bunch of stuff. It was small in nature and easily contained with the initial Loudon response.”
Pembroke and Chichester engines were called in, as well as a tanker from Canterbury. Concord’s department would have been dispatched to Loudon under normal circumstances, but it had already been sent to Allenstown.
Departments have their regular assignments as part of a mutual aid program, but that can change if more than one emergency is happening at the same time.
“If the unit that would be assigned is unavailable, Andrus wrote in an email, “the computer-aided dispatch system selects the next closest unit.”
Added St. Germain, “The fire dispatch has pre-determined lists from all the member towns of the mutual aid system. The computers recommend the resources based on availability.
“Obviously,” St. Germain continued, “this can put stress on the mutual aid system when the fires occur in towns close to each other, as many of the towns share the same resources on their lists.”