A fatal blaze ripped through a Litchfield, New Hampshire home yesterday morning, leaving one person dead and a neighborhood reeling in the wake of the tragedy. Fire crews descended on the scene at 7 Century Lane after 8 a.m. upon receiving reports of the fire and were greeted by a house fully engulfed in flames, with smoke visible from a mile away, according to Boston 25 News.
The intensity of the fire forced firefighters to fight defensively, and while one resident and two dogs were able to escape, one occupant was not so lucky and was later pronounced dead, but their identity remains undisclosed, though neighbors disclosed a couple lived there with their two dogs the house was too unstable to attempt a rescue even as firefighters had sufficient access to a couple of fire hydrants within 1,000 feet. The ferocity of the inferno necessitated a second-alarm call for reinforcements, bringing in mutual aid from nearby Nashua, Bedford, Manchester, Merrimack, Hudson, and Londonderry crews who battled the fire into control just before 9:30 a.m. but continued addressing problematic hot spots.
Litchfield Fire Chief Doug Nicoll, one of the early responders, described the scene: "Just as we got on scene, we went to a second alarm," adding sorrowfully, "there was a couple of dogs that made it out, but unfortunately, we did have somebody that was not able to make it out," as reported by WMUR. The cause of the fatal fire is still under investigation with no immediate insights into its ignition. The State Fire Marshal has been called to the scene to help unravel the origin of the blaze.
