The former Strong School building was the site Wednesday of a two-alarm fire.
The fire at the former elementary school building at 69 Grand Ave. broke out around 12:48 p.m., according to Assistant Fire Chief Justin McCarthy.
Fire crews arrived to find smoke filling the building. An incident commander called in a second alarm to help the crews deal with the extreme heat, exacerbated by the weather.
The fire was extinguished in about 45 minutes, according to McCarthy. It took a while to locate the source of the fire due to all the smoke. It turned out some articles stored in the building had caught fire, McCarthy said. But the fire itself was limited to one area of the building on the first floor. No injuries were reported.
The Strong School closed 10 years ago. The circa-1916 brick building’s condition has deteriorated as the city and neighbors have butted heads at times about what its future use should be (as well as about the Board of Education’s maintenance and security). A new planning process is underway; read about that here.
NHFD investigators are probing the source of the fire.
Schools spokesperson Justin Harmon said it appears that “vandals who broke into the building” set the fire. He said the NHFD extinguished before “there was substantial damage.” McCarthy said the NHFD will work with the Board of Ed on “security and access” at the building.
Amazing how fires start. Vandals? How do we know that? Lots of folks want paroperty in NH and this old building was in the way. So it goes up it flames....in broad daylight....