Merrimack River Island Burns Out Of Control In Concord: Watch

CONCORD, NH — For a number of hours Tuesday, Concord fire and rescue teams have been attempting to contain a forest fire on an island along the Merrimack River.

The island runs parallel to Hall Street, near Amoskeag Beverages, on the eastern side of the city just west of Garvins Falls Road.

New Hampshire State Police reported seeing the fire first from its helicopter — while on a detail assisting the Secret Service in protecting Vice President Mike Pence who held an afternoon rally in Gilford Tuesday. Pence's motorcade was on its way back to the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

Originally, Bow fire and rescue teams were called to the fire around 6 p.m. Firefighters reported to dispatch seeing the smoke from Interstate 89 as the headed to Hall Street to set up a command.

Not long after arriving, it was determined the island was actually in Concord not Bow, and Concord teams were called in, too. Forestry units were called to the scene as well as fire boats attempting to access the river.

Due to the severe drought underway in New Hampshire, river levels are low and fire boats were having difficulty accessing the river. Firefighters then attempted to access the fire off Garvins Falls Road where electrical wires run from Pembroke to Concord.

At just before 7 p.m., firefighters were attempting to figure out if the fire was contained to the island. About 30 minutes later, they determined they could access the eastern side of the island via the power line trails and brought in water pumps to the area to use the river water to douse the flames.

The Bow Fire Department stated on Facebook around 10:30 p.m. that firefighters will let the island burn, while being monitored overnight, until firefighters can access the river with boats Wednesday.

Concord Interim Fire Chief Guy Newbury said in an email Wednesday the department used boats to access the island which is estimated to be around 2.5 acres in size. The fire, overnight, burned the entire island.

"The fire is burning deep," he said. "And burned high up in the tree during the night."

NewsCam 603 posted these videos of the fire on YouTube.com.

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