CONCORD, N.H. --
Firefighters ran out of water Wednesday night while fighting a fire that gutted a vacant 19th century building in Concord.
Calls flooded 911 when fire and smoke rose from the vacant building off South Main Street in Concord, but firefighters said they didn't have the equipment to adequately attack the fire right away because of budget cuts that cost them a fire engine that would have arrived at the scene within minutes, WMUR News 9's Jean Mackin reported.
Firefighters said only one fire engine was available to get to the fire that was visible from Interstate 93 -- and that engine ran out of water. Firefighters said they feel lucky this was an abandoned building.
It took two minutes for the first fire engine to reach the old railroad maintenance building that has been abandoned for more than three decades.
"We started a line on the fire. Within four or five minutes, we ran out of water," said Chris Andrews, president of the Concord Fire Officers Association, who arrived first at the scene.
Without water, the first firefighters had to watch the building burn. Concord's second fire truck was delayed because it was already on another call. A third fire truck was called in from miles away in the Penacook area. The city's fourth fire engine fell victim to budget cuts and was permanently taken out of service on June 1.
"It was a vacant building but that could've been somebody's house right there," Andrews said.
Firefighters from six surrounding communities answered the call with concern because the vacant building often houses homeless people. No one was found inside the building Wednesday.
"It certainly is a possibility that had this had been a different scenario, the concern would have been much higher," Concord Fire Chief Dan Andrews said.
The fire chief confirmed that Concord has three fire engines, a ladder truck and three ambulances covering the city.
"Certainly, having four engines in a city the size of 64 square miles would be an increase in protection. More is better but we were faced with a very difficult budget challenge," Dan Andrews said.
WMUR News 9 reached out to city leaders for comment on the budget cuts but received no return calls by late Wednesday night.
Firefighters said they have a great relationship with the City Council, and they hope to restore equipment in the future. City investigators and the state Fire Marshal's Office continued to investigate a cause.
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