Fire Destroys Alstead, N.H. Nonprofit's Truck, Damages Kitchen

March 17--ALSTEAD -- A fire that started in a truck and spread to the Fall Mountain Friendly Meals kitchen Friday night will complicate the nonprofit's food distribution.

Just before midnight someone was driving by the Friendly Meals building on Bragg Lane and reported flames, said Mary Lou Huffling, director of the Fall Mountain Food Shelf and Friendly Meals.

By the time firefighters arrived and had the fire under control, the Ford F-150 truck was destroyed and the kitchen's walls and ceilings were badly damaged in one corner of the building, she said.

"You wouldn't believe what (the truck) looks like," she said. "I've never seen anything like it."

The seats were burned out, all the glass was broken and the tires had blown up, she said.

Friendly Meals used the truck, a 1990s model that was donated to the organization in 2001, to pick up donations and deliver meals every Tuesday and Thursday to elderly residents in need. It was an old truck, with a lot of miles on it, Huffling said. But the food shelf employees kept it well maintained, and it was running perfectly on Friday, she said.

Alstead Fire Chief Kim J. Kercewich said firefighters spent about two hours at the scene, making sure all the flames were put out. Firefighters think a spark started in the engine compartment and worked its way back through the truck, he said.

The fire is not considered suspicious at this time.

None of the appliances in the kitchen were damaged, nor was any food lost. But the volunteers won't be able to use the space for a while, Huffling said. She won't know the extent of the damage or length of disruption until insurance representatives come on Monday.

In the meantime, volunteers will prepare the roughly 270 meals twice a week at St. Paul's Masonic Lodge in Alstead, she said.

Volunteers deliver 200 of those meals to people in Acworth, Alstead, Langdon and Walpole. And each Tuesday and Thursday, about 60 or 70 people come to the Alstead Fire Station, where Friendly Meals serves a hot meal.

"We'll just bring our equipment down (to the lodge)," she said. "It's going to be a lot of extra lugging, but that's OK. I'm just happy that they're letting use it."

As for meal deliveries and donation pickups, buying a replacement truck is out of the question right now because there are so many people in need of the nonprofit's services that all the money goes toward food or gas for deliveries, she said. Huffling will likely have to rely on volunteers who have trucks for tasks like picking up bread in Winchester or Keene and taking the meals from the kitchen to the fire station.

Volunteers helped build the kitchen when they opened the building about six years ago, Huffling said, and she's hopeful that there will be interest in putting it back together.

"I know they'll come together," she said. "The people here are so wonderful."

For information on helping at Friendly Meals, contact Huffling at (603) 835-2282 or send a donation to P.O. Box 191, Alstead, NH 03602.

Kaitlin Mulhere can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @KMulhereKS.