Claremont
Homeowner Robert Picard estimated $50,000 to $60,000 worth of equipment that was inside the barn was destroyed.
“All I can say is it was three juveniles, preteen (boys), playing with a cigarette lighter that started it,” Bergeron said by telephone from the scene on Wednesday afternoon.
Fire crews learned the juveniles were seen around the barn before the fire started; shortly after the fire broke out, some adults became involved.
“They admitted it,” the chief said about the juveniles.
The fast-moving fire was called in around 2:20 p.m. and declared under control 20 minutes later, leaving nothing but a collapsed metal roof, charred timbers and burned vehicles including three snowmobiles, a motorcycles and a garbage truck.
Picard, who owns Picard and Son’s Waste and Recycling, arrived at his property not long after the fire was under control and crews were hosing down the smoldering remains. The barn is located at the rear of his five acre property and was not close to the house.
“I just don’t understand how it started,” Picard said before the cause was known. “There is no electricity in there.”
One witness told Fire Chief Rick Bergeron it appeared that the first flames were in the area of the garbage truck in the first bay.
“The first three barns were well involved when we got here,” Bergeron said. “It was vicious but short.”
Bergeron said there were multiple explosions and one “sizeable one.”
“It created a noticeable concussion on me and I was 75 to 100 feet away,” Bergeron said. “I heard feedback it was heard downtown.”
Though he was not sure what it was, Bergeron said, it could have been a propane tank or possibly any of the fuel tanks on the vehicles. Even if they are empty, they can explode, he said.
Picard said the early 1990’s garbage truck — a packer — was not insured because it was not being used but he had plans to put it back on the road shortly which would bring his fleet up to four trucks. The business serves Claremont, Newport and surrounding towns. Picard bought the property last November.
Picard also said he had a backhoe that hooks to his tractor and a riding lawn mower inside the barn. In addition, a tenant who lives on the property said he owns the snowmobiles, motorcycle and car.
“There was probably between $50,000 and $60,000 worth of equipment inside,” Picard said, adding that he was not sure how much was insured.
According to the city’s assessing records, the 3,145-square-foot barn was valued at $15,700.
Behind the barn is a wooden fence that separates Picard’s property from 66 Case Hill Road, where Lee and Linda Murtaugh live.
The intense heat melted the siding on the Murtaughs’ detached garage, which Lee Murtaugh estimated is about 25 feet away from the barn. He said his wife left soon after the fire started because of the danger and he was not home at the time.
“It is just external damage,” Murtaugh said about the melted siding. “As far as the inside, it didn’t touch it.”
He also noted the flames melted the coating on a power line that runs between the two properties but did not appear to have damaged a large evergreen that stands just over the fence on Picard’s property.
Once the flames were extinguished, fire crews were pulling apart parts of the metal roof to put out hot spots. Inside the barn were several large drums with oil that were “distended” the chief said, but they did not explode.
Fire departments from Newport, Cornish and Charlestown responded to the scene, which is serviced by a hydrant.