Crime & Safety
Concord Firefighters Extinguish Another Fire Under The Water Street Bridge; Arson Suspect Sought
Videos: Flames shot up the side of the bridge at a homeless camp where the city previously spent tens of thousands of dollars to clean up.
CONCORD, NH — Concord firefighters extinguished another fire underneath the Water Street Bridge on Monday night at what appears to be a homeless camp previously cleared out by the city.
Capital Fire Alarm began receiving calls around 11 p.m. about an outside fire underneath the bridge.
Flames were seen shooting up the side of the bridge before firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire.
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“Pretty large fire under the bridge,” the battalion commander said after arriving. “We’re going to need the forestry unit on Gas Street.”
Engine 4 was sent to the top of the bridge to run a booster line down to the firefighters.
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News 603 posted a video on Facebook.
And here:
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Concord police also responded and shut down the southbound side of Water Street.
Just after 11:15 p.m., the commander said the forestry unit was no longer needed, but the team still needed rakes to continue extinguishing the fire. The fire was knocked down just before 11:30 p.m.
Concord police also interviewed a witness at the scene and identified a suspect, a woman, previously charged with setting fires and threatening to set fires, according to arrest reports and court documents posted on Patch.
Other officers began searching the area for her, according to scanner chatter. Several people reported the suspect walked toward the Speedway and then, down Hall Street. Another witness reported seeing her near the methadone clinic. Officers checked the area as well as Poplar Street but did not find her.
During the investigation, firefighters found a downed streetlight about 20 feet from the bridge. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation was notified about the light pole issue.
Firefighters cleared the scene just before midnight.
The city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars last year cleaning and clearing the camp under the bridge and at Healy Memorial Park.
The site, labeled “Welcome to Hell” by some members of the city’s unhoused community, was also the scene of a robbery in which an accused drug dealer was shot in July 2025.
Police have been regularly patrolling both areas, according to scanner chatter, and the city has posted trespass signage at Healy and under the bridge.
Concord NH Patch will update this post when more information becomes available.
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