The Associated Press
Published: February 1,2015
A
fleet of snow plows belonging to the small town of Henniker, New
Hampshire, was lost in a fire Friday night. Winter Storm Linus is
expected to bring more than a foot of snow to the area.
Five dump
trucks used as snow plows, a road grader and many other vehicles were
lost when a fire broke out at the Henniker Highway Department. The
trucks had just finished clearing snow from the streets and were being
stored in the town garage with additional vehicles. The damages were
estimated to surpass $1 million.
Henniker Fire Chief Steve
Burritt told the Concord Monitor, "This puts the town in a bad spot. The
town has a serious problem for snow removal. Not that there isn't a
solution, but it's going to be a challenge."
A handful of nearby
towns are stepping up to help Henniker prepare for Linus' impacts by
providing the equipment needed to plow and treat roadways, the Concord
Monitor reported.
(FORECAST: Winter Storm Linus)
Investigators said the fire apparently originated in the engine of one of the trucks and spread.
State
Fire Marshal J. William Degnan said the garage had a full fire alarm
system that alerted the Fire Department to the blaze, but firefighters
were unable to enter the building to remove the vehicles because of
heavy flames and smoke. He said the building was not equipped with an
automatic fire sprinkler system that could have reduced the extent of
the damage.
The only remaining heavy equipment were two pickup
trucks and a front-end loader, which were parked outside and spared from
the blaze. No injuries were reported.
"It's going to be a real pain if we get snow on Monday," Burritt told the Concord Monitor.
Henniker is a town of about 4,800 people about 20 miles west of Concord.
MORE: Winter Storm Linus
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