Marina fire damage could reach $1 million

MEREDITH — The damage from a two-alarm fire which destroyed a building and several boats at Meredith Marina Thursday could reach $1 million, according to the town’s fire chief.

The fire destroyed the marina’s service building along with six boats, Chief Ken Jones said Friday afternoon.

Although the investigation into the blaze is still ongoing, Jones said that all signs indicate the fire was accidental.

“This appears to be an accidental incident,” Jones said.

Equipment and personnel from eight fire departments assisted Meredith firefighters in battling the intense blaze, which sent flames and plumes of thick, black smoke high into the sky at dusk Thursday.

“The fire was hot, quick and fast,” Jones said.

Between 45 and 55 firefighters worked to extinguish the fire at its height, the chief said.

The 50-by-70 metal building was fully ablaze when the first firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after 4:45 p.m., forcing them to fight the fire from the outside.

Multiple explosions intensified the fire as petroleum products and combustible gases inside the building ignited, Jones explained.

Among the hazardous materials were acetylene, oxygen, propane, and used motor oil and other petroleum-based products, he said.

The investigation into the fire is being conducted by the state Fire Marshal’s Office and the Meredith Fire Department. But Jones said they might be unable to pinpoint the cause because the fire consumed most everything inside the building.

At first fire officials thought there was one boat inside the building, but as they began conducting interviews on Friday they learned there were two crafts — a pontoon boat and a deck boat, Jones said. Four other boats stored immediately behind the building were also destroyed. Another three or four boats suffered some damage.

The premises were insured, Jones said.

The damage could have been even worse if the wind had been blowing in a different direction. A 50-by-80 building “full of boats” was spared any damage, Jones said.

“The firefighters did a great job to contain the fire to one building,” he said.

The chief said the technicians who work in the service building had finished for the day at 4 p.m. He said the last worker left the building probably about 20 minutes before the fire was spotted by an employee a few minutes before 4:45 pm. By that time some employees had left the premises, while others were attending a meeting in the sales office located in another building across a paved yard.

Jones said he was at the fire station, a short distance from the marina at 2 Bayshore Drive, when the alarm came in. Heavy, black smoke was coming from the building and fire was beginning to show as he arrived on the scene, prompting him to call for a first alarm summoning personnel and equipment from several neighboring fire departments. He called for a second alarm shortly afterward, he said.

The state Department of Environmental Services was called to the scene because some contaminants from the fire scene had flowed into Meredith Bay.

Firefighters used water and foam to bring the fire under control because of the nature of the materials that were burning, Jones said.

A demolition excavator was brought in to move some of the debris so firefighters could extinguish any remaining hot spots.

Those departments which helped fight the fire were: Laconia, Gilford, Center Harbor, Holderness, Moultonborough, Belmont, New Hampton, and Plymouth. The Sandwich and Ashland fire departments covered the two Meredith fire stations.