By BARRY W. WALKER
Plymouth Bureau
THORNTON — For the second night in a row, Pemi-Baker
area fire departments were called out to fight a major
fire when flames swept through a large, three-story
home on Snow Wood Drive.
Campton-Thornton Fire Chief David Tobine said a
passer-by spotted the fire about 7:30 p.m. and phoned
it in to 911 on his cell phone.
Flames were already showing on the outside of the
home’s rough-sawn pine planking when Tobine arrived
with the first Campton-Thornton units.
The nearest hydrant is at the corner of Route 175
and Pond Road, about two miles away.
"That’s why I went to two alarms right away,"
Tobine said. "I knew we would need help to get water
up to the site."
Units from Plymouth, Rumney, Ashland, Waterville
Valley, Meredith, New Hampton and Bristol responded
with tankers to ferry water to the site.
"It was definitely a nuisance," Tobine said, "but
we didn’t run out of water."
"But it was a stubborn fire," the chief said. A
burned-out staircase inside kept firefighters from
getting to the second floor so they had to use ladders
from the trucks to get through the second story
windows outside.
"That’s always hazardous to firefighters," he said,
"because you don’t always know what you’re going
into."
Despite that, only one firefighter was transported
to Speare Memorial Hospital, suffering from an unknown
rash. Tobine did not know the firefighter’s name or
department Tuesday night.
Temperatures approaching zero played havoc with
nozzles, pumps, valves, and roads and walkways, making
fighting the fire doubly difficult.
"There was ice everywhere," Tobine said.
The flames were out after an hour and a half, but
firefighters spent the next four hours until after
midnight looking for hotspots and embers.
Tobine said the home was furnished but not occupied
and may be a vacation home. He said he would research
the owner’s name through town tax records in the
morning.
