A fire that started in a Hampton Beach hotel in New Hampshire spread quickly and destroyed at least five building before being subdued by 125 firefighters from three states during the early morning hours of February 26, 2010.
The blaze started just after midnight at The Surf Hotel, a small family owned hotel across from the beach on historic Hampton Beach. High winds, clocked at 60 mph, grabbed the flames from the roof of the Surf Hotel and quickly spread. flames to neighboring properties.
New Hampshire firefighters immediately summoned help from the neighboring states of Massachusetts and Maine. A total of 125 firefighters responded to fight the rapidly spreading blaze. Within an hour of staring, the blaze had consumed at least five businesses in the area, including an arcade and several other seasonal businesses. The buildings were believed to have been unoccupied when the fire broke out, according to a news report on MMUR-TV.
Before the blaze broke out, the fire department had been responding to storm related emergencies, such as tree limbs falling on power lines and transformer fires. At the time the hotel blaze broke out Hampton Beach had been experiencing power outages and downed phone lines caused by the storm's high winds.
The Surf Hotel sits across the beach from the ocean on Ocean Boulevard. The Hampton Beach area is a historic region, popular with summer tourists. Ocean Boulevard is lined with hotels, condos, restaurants and gift shops. The strip of tourism oriented. businesses is important to the region's economy during the summer months.
The historic oceanfront strip is lined with wood frame buildings, in close proximity to each other. This is the third time in the past 100 years that fire has destroyed buildings on the strip. Hampton fire chief Chris Silver said four fires have broken out on the same block in the past 100 years, in a quote reported on New Hampshire television station MMUR-TV.
Hampton Beach has been a popular summer getaway destination for over 100 years. According to information on the Hampton Beach website, the first seacoast hotels on Hampton Beach were built in the 1840's. Billions of visitors have vacationed at Hampton Beach over the past century.
Written by Christine Nyholm
HULIQ.com
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