Hampton, New Hampshire (AFP) – A fire that started in an unoccupied oceanfront hotel was fanned by winds near hurricane strength and spread to adjacent buildings, and sweeping the building and the destruction of entire companies, firefighters said. There were no injuries.
The glow of the flames can be seen from miles away, and a witness said.
A fierce fire that began late Thursday night or Friday morning, the three-storey hotel in waves Hampton, and densely populated community along the Atlantic coast an hour’s drive north of Boston, and the shooting, said Capt. David Lange. A block of wood frame of five buildings, including arcade games, restaurant, and soon caught fire, he said.
Weather at the time was rainy and windy because of a storm moving up the Atlantic Coast, which helped to fan the flames, he said. The wind was so strong that they blew off the membrane covering the hotel roof, he said.
The National Weather Service said the region recorded the strongest gust of wind storm around the same time the fire was reported – 68 miles in reading, a little less than hurricane strength of 74 miles per hour, in the Pease Airport in Portsmouth, about 10 miles north of Hampton.
Bad weather, the pressure on resources from the fire department, which sent teams and equipment for a number of weather-related emergencies, such as fallen trees, fires, converters, before the outbreak of fire at the hotel, which was reported at 12:05 am on Friday and had to scramble to respond, said Lange . Surrounding communities were subject to tax, and also could not send help immediately. Firefighters in the state of Massachusetts, Maine, which he called
Paul Sullivan, a retired police officer who lives in the city center about 3 miles from the hotel, and he could see the fire from the front window of his home.
“I saw a glow rising, getting brighter and brighter from this moment,” Sullivan said in a telephone interview.
It took firefighters several hours before they could extinguish the fire while battling the wind and cold, but by that time the buildings can not be saved, said Lang.
“They went to a large extent,” he said.
Hampton is home to Hampton Beach State Park, a popular summer destination. Hotel Ocean waves on the street, which is lined with hotels, apartments, restaurants and gift shops. The tape is essential to the economy of the crowded area in the summer and attracts large numbers of visitors, but the beach is usually quiet in the winter.
Most of the buildings along Pacific Avenue is very old and close to each other, with no firestops in between.
Most companies in the region, including hotel waves, are seasonal, and it is unlikely anyone could be there at this time of year, Sullivan said.
No cause of the fire have been identified.
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