70+ Firefighters Battling Concord Brush Fire

Firefighters from Concord and around the capital region are continuing to battle a six-alarm blaze in the western part of the city off Lake View Drive and Long Pond Road.

The blaze was discovered at around 1:30 p.m. on May 4, 2015, in the northern part of Marjory Swope Park along an old logging road. A command center was set up across from Penacook Lake and during the course of about an hour the fire quickly went to six alarms.

At the scene at around 6 p.m. Lt. Ken Kiehl, the assistant fire marshal for the Concord Fire Department, stated that more than 70 firefighters were battling the blaze across more than eight acres of primarily conservation land.

“It’s tough to get to,” he said. “The fire has shifted over to District 5 … some of its burnt out already.”

The fire became so widespread that a helicopter from JBI Helicopter Services was called in to assist in reaching the more remote areas of the fire.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown but Kiehl said he hoped to get some information from the firefighters in the field later tonight. He said this incident was probably one of the biggest brush fires the city has seen in about 10 years.