By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — A camper was completely destroyed in a fire on Punkershire Ave Wednesday afternoon, and while the wind presented some challenges, Claremont Fire Chief Jim Chamberlain commended his firefighters for keeping the blaze from extending to the home only a few feet away.
“When I arrived on scene, I was fully expecting that the camper and the house would both be a total loss,” Chamberlain said. “Fire personnel worked quickly to get the water on the fire immediately and prevent the fire from really affecting the residence. They did a great job considering the cold, the wind and the fully involved camper we had on arrival.”
According to a release by the Claremont Fire Department, at 1:14 p.m. the fire department was dispatched to 14 Punkershire Ave for a report of a camper that was in front of a residence on fire. Engine 4, Engine 3, Ladder 2 and C-1 responded to the scene.
Upon arrival, C-1 found a fully involved camper fire that was starting to affect the residence. A first alarm assignment was initiated, which brought mutual aid from Newport and Ascutney, Vermont.
“The camper is where we determined the fire started, and it was fully engulfed when we arrived,” Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain said that fire crews deployed two, one-and-three quarter-inch hand lines and worked “rapidly” to extinguish the fire. He said fire personnel was able to stop the fire from penetrating the home, but it did incur some damage that was visible.
“The water source was excellent,” Chamberlain said. “We had a hydrant in close proximity. Our response was less than two minutes and we were able to get rapid extinguishment underway. The cold is primarily an inconvenience, but when we have wind driven fires it presents a whole other set of challenges. Certainly we were dealing with that today.”
The fire was declared under control at 1:37 PM, and crews remained on the scene to conduct overhaul operations. When Chamberlain spoke with the Eagle Times at 3:30 p.m., he said that the scene had been cleared.
Chamberlain said there was “one and maybe two” people in the camper at the fire, and he believes the call to the fire department came from someone at the residence. Everyone was able to self extricate, and while there were no injuries, a dog did perish in the fire.
Chamberlain said that the cause of the fire is “undetermined,” but there is no indication to believe it was suspicious.
“Our best determination is that the fire started in the camper, and it was very windy at the time of the fire,” he said. “The camper was probably three feet away from where the residence was, so as a result, the fire did infringe on the residence but it is still structurally sound.”
