EXETER - A fast-moving fire destroyed a 30-year-old woodworking shop Tuesday afternoon.
The fire broke out around 12:15 p.m. at 4 Powder Mill Road. Assistant Exeter Fire Chief Ken Berkenbush said the first floor of the shop was ablaze when firefighters arrived.
"When they opened the garage door they had fire rolling out the front," he said.
The fire started in the front of the building and spread quickly, causing much of the main roof to collapse.
"Everything on the first floor is gone," Berkenbush said, adding that the basement and a "hip shed" were spared any significant damage.
Berkenbush said the fire was fueled by all of the wood inside the building.
Fire investigators had not determined a cause of the fire by Tuesday night.
The shop is owned by Exeter carpenter Paul Dupre, who arrived shortly after the fire began.
Dupre said he worked at the shop from about 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. and then left. He said there were no problems while he was there, but that the woodstove was on. He said he didn't know if the woodstove was to blame.
Dupre lost woodworking equipment, lumber and other wood products in the blaze, but the extent of the loss isn't known. He said he couldn't afford insurance for the shop, which he and his father built in the early 1980s.
"It's been a bad three years," he said, "but getting all hot and bothered by it isn't going to change anything."
Dupre is hoping he'll be able to salvage some of his belongings, but he said he wouldn't know what could be saved until he's able to get inside the building to see the damage for himself.
Approximately 20 firefighters from Exeter and other communities battled the blaze, bringing it under control by about 1:15 p.m., Berkenbush said.
Exeter firefighters were assisted at the scene by crews from Durham, Epping, Kensington, Newfields, and North Hampton. Firefighters from Hampton and Amesbury, Mass., manned the fire station.
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