Canterbury Barn, Tilton House Destroyed By Fire

CONCORD, NH — Fire and rescue teams from two counties were kept busy on Monday night and Tuesday morning, fighting two fires — one that destroyed a house and another that burned down a barn.

Firefighters from Tilton-Northfield and Franklin were sent to Chestnut Street in Tilton for a house fire around 11:45 p.m. on Monday night. A resident of the home heard an explosion in the basement, and then, the apartment building caught on fire. The caller self-evacuated from the home, according to dispatch.

Tilton police were the first to arrive and confirmed there was visible fire. Tilton-Northfield firefighters were busy at a cardiac arrest call, so dispatch requested more firefighters from other towns, including Belmont, Laconia, and Sanbornton. Gilford and New Hampton firefighters were requested for mutual aid.

When firefighters arrived, they confirmed heavy fire from the basement of the two-and-a-half-story home and requested EMTs for an injured person. Around 12:15 a.m., the fire commander warned firefighters heading to the scene that the street was a sheet of ice outside the home. The highway department was requested to salt the street. Meredith EMS responded to assist the injured person.

A second alarm was then rung for the fire around 12:30 a.m., bringing in more firefighters from Belmont, Concord, and Gilford to assist and provide mutual aid.

A few hours later, just after 2:45 a.m., firefighters in Canterbury were sent to Shaker Road for a report of a building fire.

When they arrived, according to Chief Michael Gamache, they found a one-and-a-half-story barn fully involved.

“This fire was beginning to extend to an adjacent barn,” he said. “The initial efforts were directed towards stopping the fire from extending to the home and the adjacent structure. These efforts were successful. The adjacent barn did sustain some fire damage but no structural damage.”

Gamache said since there were no water sources and the fire was in a remote location, water had to be shuttled from a pond draft site two miles away.

Assisting Canterbury firefighters were firefighters from Belmont, Epsom, Laconia, Loudon, and Tilton-Northfield, as well as the Penacook Rescue team and Capital Area Chiefs C1 and C2.

Gamache said the all-clear was issued just after 5:30 a.m. and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

News 603 posted videos of both fires on Facebook this morning.

Here is a video from the Canterbury barn fire:

Here is the first Tilton fire video:

Here is the second Tilton fire video:

Here is the third Tilton fire video:

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