Lynch calls Alton fire scene 'total devastation'

The fire that ripped through the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center on Sunday afternoon and evening proved to be a nightmare come true for local firefighters, Alton Fire Chief Scott Williams said yesterday after giving Governor John Lynch a tour of the damage.

"This was the worst fear for our fire department," said Williams, "a big fire with a northwest wind." His firefighters were well aware of the risk presented by the center, which has many small cottages, many within several feet of the next.

"The best thing was it didn't happen on the Fourth of July," he added. Because the fire occurred in mid-April, the cottages were unoccupied. During the warmer weather, though, the center is a favorite vacation spot, packed with people who travel from across the country to enjoy the company of other Evangelical Christians and the religious speakers and musical programs offered by the center.

Williams said that fire crews from more than 40 departments, both local and distant, responded to help contain the fire. Every nearby fire department was on scene, it seemed, and they were joined by crews from as far away as Freedom, Concord, Danbury and York, Maine.

Williams estimated that there were about 200 firefighters who responded to the crisis, which went to 14 alarms before the fire was extinguished.

"This was the largest fire Lakes Region Mutual Aid has ever dispatched," said Williams. The mutual aid organization has been in place since 1970, and Williams said it was thanks to the help of the mutual aid system that the fire was stopped before it could be blown through town. "Hats off to them," he said.

Only one firefighter, Mike Davenport, from the Alton Department, was injured. Davenport was struck in the face with a piece of pipe that was thrown by an exploding propane tank. He was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital later that night.

"This is just total devastation," Lynch told the media after visiting the charred remains of what was once 45 summer cottages. He said he would look into the availability of federal money to assist the owners of the cottages to rebuild.

Williams said the fire was challenging for two reasons: "The wind, of course, and the lack of water at the onset."

Although there were fire hydrants at the conference center, the chief said the intensity of the fire required 15,000 to 20,000 gallons of water per minute, more than ten times the volume that a hydrant can provide. Thus, tanker trucks were "drafting" water from Lake Winnipesaukee, located just across Route 11.

Williams said the first call came in as a smoke investigation at 4:20 p.m. on Sunday. The first responder, who arrived within a minute of the call, found two cottages burning. Williams, who lives about three miles away, said there were about five fully involved cottages by the time he arrived minutes later.

"When you have a 35 mile per hour wind, you're playing catch up the whole time," Williams said. Before the fire would be extinguished at about 10:30 p.m., it burned 45 cottages spread over four acres. The heat of the fire was apparent by the fact that nearly no combustible material remained; only the metal from appliances and stone chimneys and foundations were identifiable among the char and ash.

N.H. Fire Marshal Bill Degnan was present for the governor's tour. Degnan said three fire investigators were working the case. As of Monday morning, he said investigators had not yet determined where the fire had started. Although several media reports have said a suspicious cause for the blaze has been ruled out, Degnan said this is inaccurate. His investigators, he clarified, haven't discovered anything that would point to the fire being intentionally set. The investigation is just beginning, though. "All options are open at this time," he clarified.

Private buildings, Christian Center land

Brad Smith, retreat coordinator of the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center, said the affected buildings were all privately owned, and the fire would not affect the center's planned activities for the coming season. "Our summer program will continue on," he said.

However, the long-term affect of the fire on the center remains to be seen. The burned homes represent about one-third of all the cottages in the center. Although the cottages are privately-owned, the center owns the land underneath them and exacts a fee, similar to rent, from the cottage owners. Smith said the center's administrators had not decided whether to charge the owners of the burned cottages this year for the use of the land.

The cottage owners are "tenants-at-will," he said. The center had certain requirements of its tenants, such as affiliation with an Evangelical Christian church. Another requirement was that they held a fire insurance policy, so in theory, all the burned cottages should be covered.

The center has been in Alton Bay since 1863, and some of the utilities and infrastructure are about as old. Smith said the center might be required by the town planning board to install utilities in accordance with modern codes before reconstruction projects are approved, which could be a significant expense to the center.