Ammo, attic challenge firefighters at NM house fire

October 22, 2009 05:52 AM

By Annmarie Timmins
The Concord Monitor

CONCORD, N.H. — A quick-moving fire destroyed a home at 12 Orion St. in Concord yesterday, where a couple raise and train Labrador dogs for hunting. No one was hurt, but one of the couple’s 11 dogs is believed to have died in the blaze.

The home’s owners, Edward and Barbara Ferman, work at St. Paul’s School and were there when the fire started about 3:30 p.m., neighbors said. It was their neighbor, Deb Ceriello, who made the first call to 911.

“I heard dogs barking, but it wasn’t an urgent bark,” said Ceriello, who lives across the street. “Then I heard glass breaking and thought the dogs had jumped on a door and broken it.”

Ceriello realized the situation was far worse when she headed out her door moments later and saw heavy smoke pouring from the Fermans’ home. Before the call had connected, Ceriello could see flames, she said.

And by the time the first fire crews arrived four minutes later, there was heavy fire pushing out from the center of the house, said fire Chief Dan Andrus. Firefighters, unsure if anyone was home, tried to push their way in but were forced back by flames, Andrus said.

Firefighters were also forced to retreat because ammunition began going off from inside the house, Andrus said. The Fermans keep an ammunition supply, Andrus said, for the field training they do with their dogs.

Fire crews from Concord and several surrounding towns were still fighting flare-ups at the house at 7 last night, and Andrus said he expected to have firefighters at the scene throughout the night.

He said the fire was particularly stubborn because it had run up the wall and through the attic.

“There is still a lot of fire in concealed spaces,” Andrus said about 6:30 p.m. “It will take a lot of tedious labor to put this out.”

Andrus said his department is still investigating the cause.

Barbara Ferman, who is the event coordinator at St. Paul’s School, said she and her husband have lived in the house, built in 1900, for 35 years. They had just refurbished the deck this summer. And they were storing furniture and items for their son in their barn and attic, she said.

"(My son) just finished medical school, and he moved his things in to keep them safe,” Barbara Ferman said.

Ferman and her husband had five of their dogs with them at work because they exercise the dogs in fields near the school. Neighbors and a Concord police officer managed to rescue four dogs that had escaped the house into an attached pen.

That left two unaccounted for, Sugar and Ruff. About three hours into the fire Sugar appeared after apparently escaping on her own. But Ruff, the couple’s puppy, had not been found.

Dave Burnham, who lives three doors down, was one of the neighbors who helped the dogs outside to safety. He wouldn’t have realized the Fermans’ house was on fire had his wife not looked out their window and thought the hazy air looked odd, he said.

His wife went to their front door, looked down the street and saw flames, she said. By that time, Ceriello had called 911 and firefighters were on their way.

In short order, the street filled with spectators, some of whom saw the smoke from East Concord and near the high school. Many took photos and videos with their cell phones, not because they knew the homeowners, they said, but because they were curious.

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