By LAURENNE RAMSDELL Friday, August 26, 2011
DURHAM — A two-alarm fire blazed through a Mast Road residence Wednesday morning, charring the inside of the property and killing two cats.
Durham Fire and Rescue personnel were called to a structure fire on 256 Mast Road at 8:20 a.m., and upon arrival quickly called for mutual aid from surrounding communities for assistance as flames and smoke increased.
Crew members from Durham, Lee, Portsmouth, Dover, Madbury, Newington, Exeter, and Stratham fire departments fought the blaze that Deputy Chief Steve McCusker said originated in the home's basement. Somersworth and Pease fire personnel also aided with department coverage while the aforementioned crews were on scene.
McCusker said multiple pets were pulled from the home, and crew members began performing CPR procedures on the three dogs that were rescued. As of Wednesday afternoon, McCusker said the dogs had survived while two cats perished in the blaze.
The yellow, two-story home which is owned by the University of New Hampshire sustained significant fire damage to the basement as well as some damage to the first floor where the blaze extended upward. The house is rented out to university employees, both of which McCusker said were not at the residence at the time of the fire.
After the blaze was extinguished, crews began pulling debris from the basement. A metal garage door, wilted from the extreme temperatures, was pulled from its frame while firefighters wheeled a charred motorcycle from the scene. Some of the items were so burned they were virtually unidentifiable.
McCusker said the origin of the fire had been identified Wednesday, but investigation of the cause of the fire was ongoing.
Traffic was diverted on both ends of Mast Road for almost three hours while crews cleared the scene.
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