By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — The Claremont Fire Department had a busy week covering an array of calls including putting out brush fires, assisting with area towns on structure fires and responding to a number of motor vehicle accidents.
This shows the broad range that the department can be responsible for handling on any given day.
“We had three or four, not normal things that went on, so it was kind of a weird week,” Deputy Chief Andrew Stevens said.
According to the fire department call logs, between April 20 and April 26 the department responded to 31 calls.
On April 20 the fire department had a pair of medical calls, a quick response to a minor car accident on Veterans Park Road, and a response for an illegal burn on Central Street. The next day, on April 21, they responded to two more medical calls and then an electrical fire on Pleasant Street.
The electrical fire at 93 Pleasant Street took place at 3:59 p.m. and Car 1, Ladder 2, Engine 3 and Engine 4 responded. The fire department was called about faulty equipment involving a tanning bed at Northern Lights Tanning Salon. Stevens said the electrical fire was already contained to the tanning bed and extinguished. There were no injuries reported.
“Upon arrival there was no actual fire,” Stevens said. “The breaker had already tripped, and it was a little smoky in there, but that’s it.”
According to Claremont Fire Chief Jim Chamberlain, Mutual Aid responded to 16 Strout Road for a reported garage fire at 12:49 p.m. on April 22. The department arrived on scene in only six minutes, and upon arrival found a fully involved fire in a 24-foot by 24-foot garage.
Claremont Fire showed up with a tanker with 2,000 gallons of water flowing approximately 300 gallons per minute out of the line. They were able to mitigate this situation and, most importantly, keep the fire from entering the house.
Chamberlain said this shows how the response of his full-time department can help surrounding communities. He has a standard of getting to any spot in Claremont within five minutes, and to get over to Unity in six minutes was commendable.
He credited the rapid response of his crew in containing the fire to the garage and not spreading to the house that was only 10 feet away. The dry conditions could have made this a terrible scenario, especially if embers were carried to other locations.
“My best determination is that if it was another minute that house would have been involved,” Chamberlain said.
That day, the fire department also responded to two motor vehicle accidents, a medical call, a box alarm and a lift assist.
On April 23, Car 1 and Engine 3 responded to 96 Main Street for an extinguished cooking fire that led to injuries. Stevens said the patient was taken to the hospital and the N.H. Fire Marshal’s office was called. He said when crews showed up the fire was already extinguished, and the occupant was sitting down upon arrival. The patient sustained burns and was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center via Golden Cross Ambulance.
They also responded to a medical call at Opera House Square, which Mayor Dale Girard noted was during the city council meeting involving a city employee. The meeting was put on a brief break while the emergency was tended to.
On April 24, the fire department responded to Unity for a box alarm, Main Street for a box alarm, Pleasant Street for a medical call and a motor vehicle accident on Winter Street.
The following day, on April 25, crews responded to wires down on Highland Ave, three medical calls, a box alarm in Unity and a fire on Albert Street.
They closed out the week with a busy Saturday with three medical calls, a smoke investigation on Twistback Road, and two motor vehicle accidents with one involving a vehicle crashing into a home.
At 12:38 p.m., Rescue 1 and Engine 3 responded to 746 Main Street for a report of a vehicle hitting a house. Stevens said the cause of the accident was unclear. He said the driver went off the road about 50 feet before the house, and it appears that an embankment in the area caused him to be unable to avoid the structure.
“The vehicle went off the road and hit a house, and did some structural damage to the house,” Stevens said. “No major injuries, but the operator was transported to the hospital with nothing life-threatening.”
The homeowner was at the house when the vehicle hit. Stevens said there was also a “very minor injury to the occupant of the house,” but he was not taken to the hospital.
The occupant of the home was advised not to stay there, but Stevens said there is nothing they can do to prevent him from staying there since it is his property.
“We advised him to have someone look at it and make sure it was sound before staying there, but he indicated he would stay and that is his choice,” Stevens said. “A man’s home is his castle.”
The busy week, with such a wide range of calls, shows how prepared firefighters need to be to encounter just about anything on any given day. He said the day-to-day function of the department is to make sure they are prepared and that the equipment is ready to go whenever it is needed.
“Obviously our primary focus is responding to emergencies,” said Stevens. “The preparation for that for weeks, months or years before an incident happens — we are training and making sure equipment is in working order.”
