Firefighters Struggle to Access N.H. Brush Fire

July 28--ROCHESTER -- Fire crews responded to reports of a small brush fire near the New Hampshire Northcoast Railroad tracks by Airport Drive and Whitehall Road Thursday night, but were met with extreme difficulty in trying to get their vehicles to the scene of the fire.

At 6:16 p.m., Rochester Fire responded to the blaze, said to 20-feet by 20-feet in size. Rochester issued a "shift recall," and called firefighters in from off-duty to assist.

Asst. Chief Mark Dupuis reported officials were on scene for approximately 21/2 hours, and spent a large amount of time trying to get to the area of the fire.

"(The Forestry Division) went up Airport Drive to see if they could get a better angle," Dupuis said, noting the fire was about a mile north of Whitehall Road and two miles from Airport Drive.

Officials tried to travel from both approaches into the wooded area and then found their vehicles had a difficult time gripping the track.

"We had a lot of difficulty getting the apparatus out there," he said. "We had no traction, so basically one of the vehicles got on the tracks and started sliding off the track, down the hill. We had to stop and get them out."

Milton fire was also called in for mutual aid with the all terrain vehicle (ATV) to get out to the scene. For the future, Dupuis said he intends to communicate with Northcoast about best practices for getting fire apparatus to the area, especially when fires are known to occur in that area. He said recent changes in the track may be contributing to the fact that fire vehicles can't get any grip.

"We're working with Northcoast to see if there's an alternative and see what we can do. There may be no solution other than going in there by hand," he said, "but then we have to bring water with us and bringing in water in backpacks is not only cumbersome, but it's very limiting."

He added currently there is no ongoing investigation into the fire, although the cause is not known. He said he does not suspect train operations, though train operators may be discarding cigarettes off the track as they pass through.

"It could be that the operators of the trains are smoking but I don't want to speculate," Dupuis said. "Any number of things could have happened. It could have been kids walking down ... I can't rule out arson, but we're not going to pursue an investigation at this time"

No injuries were reported during the incident and no property damage was recorded.

Copyright 2012 - Foster's Daily Democrat, Dover, N.H.