Firefighters responded to two back-to-back calls on Monday afternoon to extinguish single-family homes that had gone up in flames.
A Franklin ranch-style home built in 1963 was heavily damaged by a fire in its garage area around 2:20 p.m., officials said, with all family members accounted for and uninjured.
In Hopkinton, just after 3 p.m. Hopkinton and Concord firefighters were dispatched to 660 Hopkinton Road for a second report of a house fire. Concord’s South End firefighters arrived to find heavy fire showing in the colonial-style home built in 1790. No one was home at the time of the fire, officials said.
The Franklin Fire Department responded to the report of a structure fire at 189 Sanborn St. around 2:19 p.m. Monday, with Fire Chief Michael Foss calling a first alarm immediately, he said.
“I tried to do a walk around, but the flames were so so heavy at that point, because of the wind fueling the fire, that I wasn’t able to get around the whole building,” Foss said.
The three-bed, one-bath home sustained extensive damage to the garage area, with smoke damage and structural issues throughout, making it uninhabitable, Foss said. The fire was under control in about an hour.
One adult man and two dogs were in the home at the time of the fire, and all occupants evacuated without injury. An adult woman and three children, who also lived in the home, were not present during the incident. The Red Cross was notified and will provide the family with assistance.
The Franklin Police Department also evacuated a man with disabilities from a nearby home due to high winds, causing the smoke to travel far.
Franklin Middle School, just across the from the home, was notified of the fire and rerouted buses to avoid the area.
Foss said the fire is under investigation. The towns of Sanbornton, Tilton-Northfield, Bristol and the city of Concord helped on the scene. The Boscawen Fire Department and Newhampton Ambulance covered the Franklin station.
The home is owned by Melissa and Alexander Newman, according to property records.
