A three-alarm fire crushed a garage and consumed most of a Westview Road home when area fire departments were called in to help Bedford control the blaze.

The owners of 22 Westview Road were home at the time of the fire on Friday, Jan. 23, but made it out safely – with little time to spare.

Some emergency responders, however, suffered minor injuries. Police Lt. Rob Gagliardi was taken to Elliot Hospital and was released later in the day, according to police Capt. Dan Douidi. He declined to discuss the circumstances of the injury. Deputy Fire Chief Mark Klose was taken to a local hospital for observation, according to acting Lt. Jon Strong.

The fire started behind the garage and spread rapidly to the rest of the two-story Colonialstyle home after 9 a.m., said fire Chief Scott Wiggin. The Fire Department is still investigating wood ashes as a possible cause, Wiggin said. The incident is not considered suspicious.

Neighbors who had spoken with the homeowners said the fire had started with hot coals in an ash pan behind the house.

Owners Robert Lecomte, whom town assessment records list as the owner with his wife, Estelle, said he did not want to discuss what had happened. Lecomte only said that he is the homeowner. “Or should I say, I was,” he corrected himself, regarding the destruction.

Jon Luby, who lives one street over on Birchwood Circle, said one of his neighbors saw flames shooting from Lecomte’s garage. Luby, who arrived at the scene at 9:05 a.m., said the Lecomtes had barely made it out of the house in time. Estelle Lecomte didn’t even have time to put on shoes, said Luby.

About a dozen chickens the couple kept behind their garage were not as fortunate. Once the blaze died down, the town animal control officer could be seen carrying away only two chickens from behind the garage.

At one point, Luby said, flames appeared to rise 40 feet high, reaching the tree line. One bystander said he saw the smoke from as far away as the Route 101 and the Interstate 93 interchange. The bystander, who works in town, would only give his first name, Jason.

At the height of the blaze, there were about 30 firefighters and more than a dozen fire trucks, engines and tankers from at least 10 neighboring communities, including Manchester, Goffstown, Merrimack and Amherst, on the scene, according to Wiggin. He said several firefighters, most from Bedford, had been assessed by paramedics for possible over-exertion and released back to duty.

Firefighters spent all morning and into early afternoon battling the flames. Around noon, the Fire Department had a tractor pull two charred cars out of the collapsed garage. As the first car was pulled out, fresh flames erupted from its side.

Wiggin said the home is a total loss. The owners just finished several years of remodeling, said Paul O’Regan, a Westview Road neighbor and the contractor who did a lot of the work. About three years ago, the roof was replaced and some windows and vinyl siding were recently installed, O’Regan said.

The Lecomtes have lived in the neighborhood for about 20 years and raised their two college- age children in the home, according to neighbors.