Trash Fire Causes Smoke Condition, Alarms At Rumford Arms In Concord

CONCORD, NH — Concord fire and rescue teams as well as police were sent to North Main Street for a fire on Sunday.

Around 1:30 a.m., capital region dispatch received a box alarm activation from the apartment building, known as Rumford Arms, due to smoke in the building. Later, a tenant reported odors and a smoke haze and, after walking to an upper floor, found significant smoke.

After speaking with the tenant, firefighters determined the smoke was coming from an apartment on the second floor. A ladder truck used Interstate 393 to access the north side of the building to get a hose to the area. Other engines and police blocked roadways around the building while firefighters made their way into the apartment and began evacuations, according to scanner chatter.

A third engine was requested after command said they smelled a distinct wood-burning odor and wanted backup until they could discover the source and if the fire had spread. Bow firefighters then showed up to assist.

Firefighters also checked all the surrounding and adjacent apartments to see if the fire had spread. Firefighters also cleared the first floor saying there was no fire in that area of the building.

A number of tenants needed assistance during evacuation so a second ambulance was requested.

Other tenants, according to dispatch, were not responding to requests to evacuate. Firefighters discussed pulling the building’s alarm system to wake everyone up or to just continue knocking on apartment doors and chose the latter — due to the smoke condition being isolated to a single second-floor apartment.

At just after 2 a.m., a firefighter reported finding a rubbish fire inside the apartment. Firefighters extinguished the fire, checked for extension, and ventilated the building. Command also requested a building representative to come to the apartment. Tenants later returned to their apartments and firefighters cleared the scene.

NEWS 603 posted a video from the scene on Facebook.

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