Fire marshal ‘actively investigating’ Belmont fire

BELMONT — The State Fire Marshal’s Office is “actively investigating” Saturday’s fire at 121 Brown Hill Road, but District Chief Stacey Dubois said they don’t have anything to share with the public at this time.

A passerby reported the fire at 6:45 p.m., and heavy smoke was coming from the barn when firefighters arrived, according to Belmont Fire Chief Mike Newhall. The fire traveled through an ell that connected with the residence, destroying the home and leaving the entire structure gutted.

Dubois said the Fire Marshal’s Office welcomes any information that might be of help in its investigation, describing it as “complex and fluid.”

“If you heard or saw anything, you can call the main line or the arson hotline at 800-400-3526,” she said.

The property owner, Joseph Griffiths, is currently residing in New York, and the house was unoccupied at the time of the fire.

The town of Belmont holds a $45,039.24 attachment on the property, the result of litigation that began in 2015. Officials initiated the proceedings after Griffiths refused to remove unused vehicles and other scrap material from the property. The town also contended that he altered a building without a permit and had a pig enclosure within a wetlands setback.

Griffiths had argued in court that he is exempt from municipal rules as a member of an indigenous tribe, the Atara. Court documents show he signed as Joseph Griffiths, Trustee of Sjrejjr Family Trust, and as Matthew Griffith Clan, Sagamore & Diplomat Atara Tribe, Sovereign Indigenous man, Sui juris (having full legal rights and authority).

Atara does not appear on the list of Native American tribes legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Town attorney Laura Spector-Morgan said the town has not seen any new developments in the case since it was awarded the property attachment last year.

The town has placed tax liens on the property for unpaid property taxes over the past several years, but Griffiths said in a brief telephone interview that he has been making progress in catching up on his taxes.

Griffiths declined to say more, except to note that he had hired an attorney to address potentially libelous allegations against him, appearing on signs and in social media. A sign placed on a utility pole across the road from Saturday’s fire lists a number of other addresses purportedly connected with him, suggesting they were purposely burned down.

Griffiths owns multiple properties throughout the country and had unsuccessfully brought suit in United States District Court in Concord against Lloyds of London and Croton Stokes Wilson Limited after the insurer had refused payment on a fire damage claim for property he owned in Groveton. The court found that Griffiths had “made a false statement with the intent to deceive” when he took out the insurance policy and denied that he had been indicted for or convicted of “any degree of the crime of fraud, bribery, arson or any other arson-related crime in connection with this or any other property.” In fact, court records say, he was under indictment at the time on six felony counts of forgery in Merrimack County Superior Court.

Prosecutors later dropped the forgery charges, which the court annulled in 2010.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include the annulments.