The historic Stark Mansion that was once owned by Caleb Stark, the son of Revolutionary War General John Stark, caught fire in Dunbarton Thursday night.

Fire crews from around the area responded to the home on Mansion Road around 6:30 p.m. and shuttled water from Stark Brook about 1.5 miles from the burning building. The fire engulfed the rear of the structure, destroying a garage, which contained an in-law apartment on the second floor.

“There’s lots of smoke and heat damage throughout the entire house, but the main structure is still all intact,” Dunbarton Fire Chief Jon Wiggin said Friday morning.

Nine people live in the house, including five adults, two who are elderly, and four children. Firefighters and police assisted them to evacuate safely, Wiggin said. The family was searching for its small brown dog that ran away.

Flames began to spread from the garage to the main structure of the white clapboard home that was built in 1785 as tanker trucks delivered water that was pumped into a portable tank.

“This is devastating,” said neighbor Lynn Marcou, who grew up in the house with her six siblings. “I can’t even believe it.”

Marcou sobbed as fire crews worked to save the home.

Wiggin said the residents were unaware of the fire, which was reported by a neighbor who called 911. The garage was fully involved in fire, which was beginning to spread to the house when the first crews arrived, Wiggin said.

“Crews did a great job getting water onto the fire and containing it basically to the garage,” Wiggin said.

Most of the flames were knocked down by 8:30 p.m. Firefighters had little rest as another fire was reported in Warner just before 8 p.m.

Firefighters had to make sure no embers reignited the fire and had to open up ceilings and walls to make sure it was extinguished.

“With the whole balloon-type construction, the fire can spread easily from the first floor to the second floor to the attic,” Wiggin said. “So all that has to be torn out and checked for fire hotspots. It’s very labor intensive.”

The historic five-bedroom home built on six acres of land is owned by Joseph and Sarah Andrews, according to town tax records.

Fire crews from Bow, Chichester, Hopkinton, Concord, Goffstown, New Boston, Warner, Webster and Bedford all responded to the scene.

Reporter Sruthi Gopalakrishnan contributed to this report.

Dunbarton NH 4th Alarm tonight at 1830. Fully involved barn attached to large farmhouse. Copy Right Video Jay Heath/All Rights Reserved pic.twitter.com/BIPpgzg2dU

— Jay L Heath (@jayheath188) February 16, 2024