An early morning house fire in New Ipswich Wednesday sent one man to the hospital with life-threatening burn injuries.
Crews were called to 602 Turnpike Road just before 5 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a house fire, according to a release from the state Fire Marshal’s office. Witness Cecilia Long of New Ipswich said she was driving home from work just after 5 a.m. on Wednesday, and had just turned onto Turnpike Road from Temple Road, when she saw smoke.
“I saw smoke, and I was just thinking, ‘Is that smoke?’ and then I saw the fire coming out of the upper story window,” Long said.
Long said she immediately turned her car around to return to the fire and call for help, when she saw something in the window.
“My mind didn’t recognize it at the time, but it was a man, leaping from the upper story window,” Long said.
According to New Ipswich Deputy Fire Chief Gary Somero, the man was able to escape the second story onto the roof. Fire Captain Mike Cain responded to the scene, and was able to use a ladder belonging to the homeowner to help extract the man from the roof.
Long said when she got out of the car, she heard two other people screaming, and found they were also inhabitants of the home. The third man, who had been extricated from the roof, was conscious but badly injured from burns, she said.
Long and a volunteer firefighter who had arrived at the scene moved the injured man out from under the house’s powerlines, and then stayed with him until medical assistance arrived, Long said.
“I’ve never been so grateful to see the ambulance. He was in pretty bad shape. But, thankfully, he made it out,” said Long, who said after the man jumped from the window, she could see flames coming from the upper story windows. “It was a hot fire. I was amazed at how powerful it was. I’ve never been that close to such a big fire. I’m just glad they all made it out, that was my first concern.”
Wendy Leger, chief of the Souhegan Valley Ambulance Service in New Ipswich, said the ambulance transported one man with critical burn injuries to the Mascenic parking lot, which served as a landing zone in which a medflight landed before transporting him to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
In addition to the three residents, a cat and dog were also in the home and were removed safely from the house before fire crews arrived.
The only other injury reported on the scene was a minor steam burn sustained by a firefighter on his wrist, according to Somero.
Somero said because of the serious nature of the victim’s injuries, the New Ipswich Fire Department requested assistance from the State Fire Marshal’s Office in investigating the cause of the fire. Officials from the state were on the scene Wednesday morning investigating the cause, which has not been definitively determined but is not considered suspicious, according to Somero.
The fire appeared to do major damage to one of the upstairs bedrooms, and broke through the roof, but was largely limited to the upper story of the house, according to Somero.
Crews New Ipswich, Jaffrey, Peterborough, Rindge, Temple, Greenville, Ashby and Milford attended the scene. Ambulances from Peterborough and Souhegan Valley Ambulance also responded.
New Ipswich tax records list the property as owned by Debra Fogg of Greenville.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.