• HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph1
    Due to high winds, a fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton Wednesday afternoon. Its occupants, a woman and two dogs, were able to safely evacuate, according to Hopkinton Fire Department, but the home was destroyed. 
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph2
    Due to high winds, a fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton Wednesday afternoon. Its occupants, a woman and two dogs, were able to safely evacuate, according to Hopkinton Fire Department, but the home was destroyed.
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph3
    Due to high winds, a fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton Wednesday afternoon. Its occupants, a woman and two dogs, were able to safely evacuate, according to Hopkinton Fire Department, but the home was destroyed. 
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph4
    Firefighters try to extinguish hot spots after a fire ripped though a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton on Wednesday afternoon. The structure was deemed a total loss.
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph5
    A fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton on Wednesday. A woman and two dogs were able to evacuate, according to Hopkinton Fire Department, but the home was destroyed.
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph6
    A fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton Wednesday afternoon. A woman and two dogs were able to safely evacuate, according to Hopkinton Fire Department, but the home was destroyed.
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph9
    A fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton on Wednesday. A woman and two dogs were able to evacuate, according to Hopkinton Fire Department, but the home was destroyed.
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph10
    A fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton on Wednesday. A woman and two dogs were able to evacuate, according to Hopkinton Fire Department, but the home was destroyed.
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph11
    A fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton on Wednesday.
  • HopkintonFire-cm-021424,ph12
    A fire that began in the garage quickly spread to the entirety of a four-bedroom home on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton on Wednesday. A woman and two dogs were able to evacuate, according to Hopkinton Fire Department, but the home was destroyed.


Fueled by forceful and frigid winds, a fire that began in the garage quickly consumed a farmhouse on Barton Corner Road in Hopkinton Wednesday afternoon.

A woman and two dogs in the home when it caught fire after 2 p.m. were able to evacuate safely, according to Hopkinton Fire Chief Jeff Yale. 

Responding to a call for a garage fire, by the time the first engine arrived — about eight minutes later — the entire home was engulfed in flames, Yale said, the charred remains of the home smoldering behind him. 

“The wind was a very serious contributing factor. It ended up venting itself through the back of the house,” Yale said. 

After fighting the blaze for more than two hours, firefighters walked through the scene with hoses to extinguish remaining hot spots. Continuing gusts blew thick, white smoke over the still-standing chimney, mounds of blackened rubble and skeletons of two cars.

Firefighters from across the capital area, including Concord, Henniker, Bow, Weare and Webster were called to the scene of the three-alarm emergency. The exact source of the fire is still under investigation.

The four-bedroom home at the end of 162 Barton Corner Road was purchased by John and Kathryn Wilson in 2021, according to town tax records. The 33-acre property also has several sheds, a small barn and fenced in pastures, which appeared untouched by the flames.

Catherine McLaughlin is a reporter covering the city of Concord for the Concord Monitor. She can be reached at cmclaughlin@cmonitor.com. You can subscribe to her newsletter, the City Beat, at concordmonitor.com.