Fire officials have yet to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a barn, severely damaged a home and killed a Bow family’s birds on Sunday.
Bow fire responded to reports of a fully engulfed barn at 73 Bow Center Road at 1:21 a.m. Sunday. The situation escalated when the fire began to spread to a structure that connects the barn to a house, said Bow fire Chief Mitchell Harrington.
The barn is a total loss, Harrington said, as are the family’s vehicles and the connecting structure to the home. It’s unclear whether the family will be able to salvage the home, which sustained heavy smoke and heat damage. The family’s chickens and geese died in the blaze.
But the man and the two children who were home at the time were not harmed during the incident thanks to the family’s dog, whose barking woke the family up. At the same time, the residents’ neighbors called in the fire, which they could see through the trees.
It took two hours and the work of 61 firefighters from 13 surrounding municipalities to knock the fire down, Harrington said, and several more hours until fire personnel left the scene, Harrington said. Extensive mutual aid was required due to the fire’s distance from a water source, the size of the building and the spread of the blaze.
The cause is still unknown and Harrington said the investigation is ongoing.
The house belongs to Joanne and Travis Allen, according to town records. They are currently staying with relatives, Harrington said.
A GoFundMe to support the family had raised over $5,000 by 4 p.m. Monday.