Sunapee Manor 5 alarm fire relief

Please consider donating to help my parents and younger brother who are among the residents affected. All funds donated will go to residents displaced by the fire. See the press release below:

Press release: , , +

On Thursday, January 18, at 6:41, New London Dispatch toned out a first-alarm structure fire at Hannafords in New London. Sunapee Fire responded mutual aid with Engine 2, Ladder 5, and Tanker 4. This put three of our apparatus out of town along with most of our available personnel. First arriving New London units found an active fire in the Bakery of Hannafords. Sunapee Fire arrived on the scene and assisted with investigation and smoke removal. Sunapee Fire Chief John Galloway, knowing that we would be tied up in New London for quite some time, requested a cover truck from Goshen to cover the Town of Sunapee.

While Sunapee Engine 2, Ladder 5, and Tanker 4 were still on scene in New London, at 7:40 PM, New London Dispatch transmitted a first-alarm for 27 Prospect Hill Road in Sunapee for smoke in the building. Our cover truck from Goshen responded directly as the call came in while they were en route to the station. Concurrently, Sunapee Engine 2 cleared New London and reported to 27 Prospect Hill. Shortly thereafter, Ladder 5 and Tanker 4 were released from the fire scene in New London and transitioned to the 27 Prospect Hill Road incident. While the initial first-alarm companies were en route, our dispatch updated responding units and advised that the caller was reporting a fire in the back of the building. At 7:49, Goshen Engine 2 arrived first on the scene and reported an active fire in the building and that they were stretching a hose line to extinguish it. Units from Sunapee Fire that had responded from both the scene in New London and Sunapee Safety Services started arriving shortly after Goshen Engine 2 and joined their crew in the fire attack. Very quickly, firefighters discovered that due to the age of the building and the type of construction, the fire had gotten a significant head start and was burning in between the floors and in the walls. At this time, Sunapee Fire Chief John Galloway updated the assignment to a second alarm, with many more alarms and special requests to come throughout the night.

Sunapee Fire, along with all our mutual aid companies, engaged in an aggressive interior fire attack within the building to try to save as much as possible. Ultimately, the fire got into the roof, and we had to use ladder trucks to assist in extinguishing the fire. The fire ended up going to 5+ Alarms and included an activation of the Souhegan Valley Strike Team, which consisted of units from Nashua, Bedford, Merrimack, Milford, and Goffstown. Sunapee Fire and our mutual aid companies were on the scene for almost 20 hours, before fully extinguishing the fire. We were assisted on the scene by the following departments and entities:

- Goshen Fire Department

- Croydon Fire Department

- New London Fire Department

- Newport Fire Department

- Grantham Fire Department

- Springfield Fire Department

- Newbury Fire Department

- Washington Fire Department

- Weare Fire Department

- Claremont Fire Department

- Lempster Fire Department

- Henniker Fire Department

- Enfield Fire Department

- Lebanon Fire Department

- Bradford Fire Department

- Andover Fire Department

- Franklin Fire Department

- Wilmot Fire Department

- Sutton Fire Department

- Milford Fire Department

- Nashua Fire Department

- Bedford Fire Department

- Merrimack Fire Department

- Goffstown Fire Department

- Capital Area C1

- New London Ambulance

- Sunapee Police Department

- New London Police Department

- New Hampshire State Fire Marshals Office

- Sunapee Highway Department

- Mark Usko’s Contracting

- All the wonderful citizens and other town employees who brought us warm drinks or food

- New London Dispatch, especially dispatcher Greg Barthol, who was the dispatcher on for this incident and did an amazing job.

We want to thank all the departments and agencies listed above for coming out in freezing cold temperatures and helping us fight this difficult structure fire. All human occupants were able to make it out of the building safely. Sunapee Fire rescued multiple animals; however, some animals did not survive. The fire remains under investigation by the NH State Fire Marshals Office.