POST MILLS — Firefighters responded to a third alarm structure fire on Route 113 Sunday evening.
When crews arrived at about 5:20 p.m., a barn was fully engulfed in flames and fire was spreading to an attached home and “threatening a nearby residence,” according to a news release from the Thetford Fire Department. A small brush fire had also started.
All occupants of the home at 7386 Route 113 and a dog exited safely.
The fire started in the barn where the homeowner had been working, according to the release. In the barn, there were “numerous fuel sources and several pieces of equipment, contributing to the fire’s rapid growth and intensity.”
The property is owned by Tyler Braley and valued at $77,110, according to property records.
Both the barn and attached house are a “total loss,” Thetford Fire Chief Chad Whitcomb said Monday. The barn was completely destroyed and crews used an excavator on the building to help extinguish the fire. The attached house is uninhabitable and will need to be torn down.
Firefighters were able to save many of the personal belongings in the residence and stop the fire from spreading to another home nearby, Whitcomb said.
While he did not know how many people were in the houses when the fire started or how many live there, Whitcomb said residents are staying locally with family in the wake of the fire.
In addition to Thetford, firefighters from Bradford, Chelsea, Corinth, Hartford, Hanover, Haverhill, Lebanon, Lyme, Norwich, Orford, Piermont, Strafford, Vershire and West Fairlee responded to the scene.
Upper Valley Ambulance and Thetford Support Team also provided support while the Windsor Fire Department provided on scene medical monitoring and support for firefighters and the Wentworth, N.H., Fire Department provided coverage from Orford.
Whitcomb declined to say what caused the fire, but it has been ruled accidental.
Route 113 in Post Mills near Route 244 was closed for nearly three hours Sunday evening while firefighters worked.
Firefighters got the blaze under control at 6:45 p.m., according to the news release. Just before 9 p.m., the fire was extinguished and firefighters cleared the scene.
