Whitefield Fire Chief Tim Pellerin reports there were no injuries resulting from a structure fire in Whitefield early Wednesday morning, Jan. 19.
One fire truck slid off the road en route to the blazing fire which consumed double wide mobile home on Northeast Lane owned by Robert Brann Jr., but firefighters from six other surrounding towns arrived roughly seven minutes after the 8:19 a.m. call.
“The building was a total loss on arrival,” Pellerin said.
Jefferson Fire Chief Walter Morris reported at the scene that First Responders did not have to send in a search and rescue party, indicating there was no one inside the building. At that point, firefighters set out to knock down the blaze and protect surrounding structures.
“The weather and road conditions hampered the time it took to get there,” Pellerin said, alluding to the task of coordinating fire department personnel and getting to the scene over a lot of rough, back country roads. “Fortunately we got set up and never ran out of water. It shows how well our mutual aid system works.”
Pellerin said he was thankful for all of the firefighters from mutual aid departments who showed up to help, including the 16 members of his own department. In addition to Whitefield, firefighters and emergency personnel arrived from the towns of Somerville, Jefferson, Pittston, Alna, Chelsea, and Washington.
Firefighters cleared the scene between 12:30 and 1 p.m. The nearby homes on Northeast Lane were untouched by the flames of this fire, which, according to Pellerin is under investigation by the state fire marshal’s office.