By Xander Landen
The Keene Sentinel
JAFFREY, N.H. — A building filled with five vehicles and a young couple’s personal belongings was destroyed Wednesday night in a three-alarm fire at 398 Nutting Road.
One firefighter battling the blaze was injured and taken to Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, according Jaffrey Fire Chief David Chamberlain. The firefighter was released from the hospital this morning.
Krystal Krug, who owned property lost in the fire, and was at the fire scene, said she heard reports that the fire started due to children playing in a storage shop on the property with matches.
Chamberlain could not confirm this and said the fire is under investigation by Jaffrey police, the Jaffrey Fire Department and the N.H. Fire Marshal’s Office.
Sixteen fire departments from communities in New Hampshire, and the Winchendon, Mass., fire department, responded to the blaze, which was reported at 7:54 p.m., according to Southwestern N.H. District Fire Mutual Aid. According to Mutual Aid Deputy Chief Tom Redin, there were firefighters at the scene until 12:28 a.m.
The storage shop was attached to a chicken coop that Krug estimates is 70 years old and that also burned down. No chickens were in the coop at the time of the fire. The coop and property at 398 Nutting Road are owned by Archie and Helen Coll, the grandparents of Krug’s fiancé, Joshua Coll.
Krug said five cars were destroyed in the fire and she also lost furniture, jewelry and legal documents she had stored in preparation to move into a new home with Joshua. The two are planning to marry in late August.
“This is very rough. It’s just not something that you’d expect to happen. We’re getting married in over a month so this is bad timing (and) a lot to take in,” Krug said.
“I’m just feeling horrified for them,” Susan Krug, Krystal’s mother, said.
“It’s sad to watch everything they own go up in flames.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up for Krystal Krug and Joshua Coll at www.gofundme.com/jaffreyfire. As of this morning, $515 had been raised.
Copyright 2016 The Keene Sentinel