CLAREMONT — Following a number of recent fires in Claremont, Fire Chief Bryan Burr had planned to address the City Council this week to discuss preventive and safety measures.

But those plans got derailed when Burr was called out to yet another blaze in the middle of the scheduled meeting Wednesday night, according to City Manager Ed Morris.

No one was injured in the fire, which damaged a home at 20 Stone Ave. on Wednesday, but the incident marks the fifth house fire the city has seen in less than two months.

In early April a mobile home fire killed Francis Viola Jr., 58. Then on May 5, a Myrtle Street home burned down, killing 29-year-old Mia Follensbee. Firefighters have not determined a cause for either blaze, and they do not know if Viola and Follensbee had working smoke detectors.

The other three non-fatal fires occurred within the last two weeks, with one on Mulberry Street last week, another on Chestnut Street this week, and the Wednesday fire on Stone Avenue. All three homes had working smoke detectors.

Despite all the recent calls, Burr, a Claremont firefighter since the 1980s, said he’s not surprised.

“It goes in phases,” Burr said Friday. “I’ve seen this trend before.”

None of the fires is considered suspicious, nor are they connected, Burr said. Instead, many of the fires stem from two factors: human activity — meaning people “doing things that create fires” — and mechanical or electrical failure, Burr said. He also suggested the age of buildings in Claremont could play a role.

“Our housing stock is old. We’re an old mill town,” he said.

However, there’s no real explanation for why so many fires are getting called in now. Burr said he doesn’t believe the quarantine stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak or the summer weather have to do with the calls.

“Some people want an answer, but there’s no answer,” he said.

Burr recalled several other periods of heavy fire activity, including a rash of fires in the early to mid-2000s.

“It ebbs and flows and that’s just the nature of the business,” he said.

Morris, a former firefighter in Idaho, echoed Burr’s words, saying that the lack of connection between the fires means there’s little “cause for concern.”

“Obviously, I’m not excited that this is happening … but they’ve been far enough apart that there’s no real concern,” Morris said.

He added that a key to preventing more house fires will be educating the public on safety measures, including regularly testing smoke detectors, which the city will likely do via a future Facebook post or an email news blast.

Looking forward, Burr said people should be careful not to leave their cooking unattended; not to overload their appliances; to put out their cigarettes and candles; and use an electrician for wiring work.

Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.