Newport
Newport Fire Lieutenant Corey Conroy said neither of the house’s occupants were injured in the blaze, and were already safely out of the building by the time the fire was called in at 3:35 a.m. Though respondents arrived at the scene only minutes later, at 3:38 a.m., it was quickly clear that more help was needed, Conroy said. The fire had spread to both floors, and was heaviest at the right rear corner of the building and the backside porch. Firefighters called in a second alarm at 3:39 a.m. The house has been deemed unlivable.
“I’ve barely thought about it. I’m just numb about the whole thing, with everything being gone,” said Suzanne Connary, the owner of the house, adding that it had been in her family for several generations. “We’ve always owned it,” she said.
Connary didn’t know what year the house was built, but she guessed it was about as old as the HodgePodge Yarns and Fibers building, which is next door to the house and was built around 1912. Connary also owns the yarn store, as well as another property out back. All three properties are on the same deed, she said, so she doesn’t know the assessed value of the burned house, which Connary said was insured.
Her daughter, Cassandra Mathews, 42, had been living there at the time. Connary said that Mathews and her boyfriend had fallen asleep watching TV, “and while they were zonked out on the couch, he suddenly jumped up and ran to the kitchen and screamed.” The couple rounded up Mathews’ pets as fast as they could — two dogs and two cats — and ran outside to call 911. A third cat has yet to be found, “but we think it escaped and is hiding out somewhere,” Connary said.
A news release from Newport Fire-EMS reported that two people had been displaced by the fire, but Connary said Mathews and her boyfriend were not living together, and that only Mathews was displaced. Mathews herself did not respond to a Facebook message seeking comment: “I think she’s just been sleeping all day,” said her mom. “She’s had a very, very rough night.”
Connary also owns a cottage where Mathews will be able to stay for the time being.
The fire crew entered through the front of the building, but had to withdraw around 4 a.m. due to the intensity of the fire.
The news release attributed this to the house’s balloon construction style, a common feature in houses from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fire can rapidly spread from floor to floor in balloon frame houses because they don’t have breaks, called top plates, between stories.
Connary thought the fire might have started in the basement, based on what she’d heard from the fire crew. It ultimately went through the roof of the house.
“There’s nothing down there in the cellar, so I don’t know what it could have been,” Connary said. “Bad wiring maybe.” Newport Fire-EMS and the Newport Police Department are conducting a joint investigation to find out the cause of the fire. Also under investigation is whether there were working smoke alarms in the house.
Anyone with further information is asked to call Fire Chief Wayne Conroy at 603-863-1416.
The fire was deemed under control at 5:09 a.m., with personnel remaining on the scene until 8:01 a.m. Aid came in from the Newport Police Department, the Newport Public Works Department, and fire departments from Claremont, Goshen, N.H., Lempster, N.H., New London and Sunapee. The Croydon and Newbury Fire Departments held down the fort at the Newport Fire Station in the meantime.
EmmaJean Holley can be reached at ejholley@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.