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By MELANIE NELSON

Newfound Area Bureau

BRISTOL — A kerosene lamp and an improperly installed wood stove were responsible for two house fires over the weekend, which sent one woman to the hospital with second degree burns on her hands and feet.

Fire Chief Norm Skantze said Ruth Whittier, who lives in a small cabin with her seven-year-old son, had left a kerosene lantern on the kitchen table when she went to bed Friday night. The cabin, which has no electricity, is located a mile off Summer Street.

He said Whittier woke up in the middle of the night to find her kitchen table on fire. She attempted to put the fire out herself with a fire extinguisher, water and towels. However, the water helped spread the fire. She brought her son to a neighbor’s house and then went back into the house to try to fully extinguish the fire.

Skantze said they are unsure of how the table caught on fire, whether the lamp had fallen over or something combustible was left near the lantern and caught on fire.

Firefighters had trouble getting to the house because the tail end of a pickup truck that had slid off the road and hit a tree earlier in the day was blocking the driveway. He said he was able to get around the truck with the Suburban, and then four firefighters pushed the end of the truck out of the way so they could pass through.

When firefighters reached the house, Skantze said Whittier had been successful in extinguishing the fire which did save her house, but in the process she received burns to her hands and feet.

The house had no smoke detectors, he said, adding that the incident should be a reminder for people to install smoke detectors.

In addition, he said he would prefer that people leave their house and call 911 if there is a fire instead of attempting to extinguish it themselves.

About 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dan and Irene McCallum safely made it out of the house at 986 North Main St. after noticing a partition near their wood stove was on fire.

Skantze said the fire was a result of the stove’s having been incorrectly installed when the house was built some years ago.

The flue was installed directly into the wall, he said. There should have been masonry surrounding it which is typically three times the diameter of the pipe.

There was limited damage to the house, said Skantze, explaining that firefighters just had to open the wall where the fire had started.

"The owners’ quick action (of calling the fire department immediately) stopped the fire right where it was and kept it from extending."

New Hampton and Alexandria Fire Departments also assisted with the two fires.