Dunbarton news : fire department

Several officers recognized for service during barn fire

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:17:00 GMT

DUNBARTON – Several Dunbarton Police employees were recognized for their outstanding effort and performance during a September structure fire at an employee recognition ceremony on Dec. 17.

On Sept. 22, the Dunbarton Police Department received a report of a structure fire at 1194 Montalona Road.

The on-duty officer covering the shift responded to the scene, arriving within seconds of the dispatch.

Upon arrival officer Gary Guevin found a fully involved structure fire. He radioed his findings to dispatch so that appropriate notifications and updates could be made to fire personnel that would be arriving shortly.

Guevin quickly assessed the situation and learned that one of the homeowners had entered the burning structure to free his horses from inside. At great personal risk, Guevin entered the burning structure to assist the homeowner with the removal of the horses and usher him to safety.

The roof of the structure collapsed just minutes after Guevin and the homeowner exited the fiery structure. Undoubtedly, Guevin’s actions helped to avert a more serious tragedy.

Guevin continued his assessment of the scene and determined that additional police resources would be needed to manage traffic and facilitate the orderly flow of fire apparatus and personnel arriving from as far away as Chichester and Warner. In all, 12 communities responded to battle the blaze.

Officer Joe Milioto and auxiliary officer Lenny LaMarca were contacted at their homes and immediately responded to the scene.

A short time later, officer Shayne Durant came upon the scene and stopped to join his fellow officers. It was a hectic scene as fire apparatus, bystanders and representative of various media outlets began to converge on the scene.

The actions of these officers most certainly assisted in the orderly management of an extensive fire and traffic scene.

Chief Christopher Connelly presented a Medal of Valor to Guevin for his display of personal bravery during the incident.

He also awarded Letters of Commendation to Milioto, LaMarca and Durant for their actions on Sept. 22 and for their selfless dedication and service to the community of Dunbarton.

Line of fire – 11 horses rescued from barn blaze by owners

Goffstown Editor — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:18:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

As flames and smoke poured out of Keith Bernard’s Dunbarton garage and barn, he and his fiancee didn’t have time to think. The couple could only act.

The four-alarm blaze on Saturday, Sept. 22, ripped through the property, but as the flames grew, Bernard and Sheri Nuanez ran in and out of the barn to rescue their 11 horses and move them to safety.

The couple was getting ready for a co-worker’s wedding when Bernard heard a pop and looked out to his garage, where he saw smoke. Upon opening the garage door, he saw flames, ran inside to get a fire extinguisher and told Nuanez to call 911.

Dunbarton Fire Chief John Wiggins spoke of the couple’s courageous act.

“They simply reacted and didn’t even realize the danger,” said Wiggins. “They took a risk and it paid off. We don’t encourage people to run back into the fire in similar situations, but we certainly know why they did it.”

Bernard, who attempted to fight the blaze with the extinguisher and a garden hose, said he and Nuanez have a close connection to the animals.

“Those horses are like our kids, they’re our family,” he said. “We have spent a lot of time with them, treated them and taken care of them. It’d be like losing a son or daughter if we had lost them.”

In addition to rescuing the horses, Bernard quickly realized that a truck was nearby loaded with recently purchased wood chips – a recipe for disaster. He ran to pull the truck out of the barn, and seconds after doing so the wall near that end of the building collapsed.

The garage and barn were only about seven feet apart from each other and about 75 feet from the house, which suffered minor damage from the heat.

“It was one of the biggest fires we’ve dealt with in recent history,” said Wiggins. “The house was minutes away from catching on fire. Our firefighters did a great job of protecting the home. We focused a lot of our efforts into saving it.”

Barely anything remains of the barn and garage, a painful reminder for Bernard.

“Rebuilding the barn is going to be a long and hard process. It’s devastating to walk through the door of the house, look out and see literally nothing,” said Bernard.

State fire marshals have concluded the investigation into the cause of the fire for the time being, and ruled it inconclusive.

“The fire started in the garage in a workshop area. There were paint and petroleum products around, but we just can’t determine exactly what caused it,” said Wiggins, who also said it is somewhat rare for investigators to be unable to locate the cause of a fire. “When there is complete destruction, which is what happened here, you can’t pinpoint what it was.”

Having no explanation for what caused the destruction to his property is frustrating for Bernard.

“Not being able to tell what started the fire is hard. If it was something electrical, we want to make sure we can triple check when we rebuild,” he said. “The destruction is just tremendous, and the reason is gray. We want to know what we can do to prevent something like this from happening again.”

Many friends and residents in the area have donated hay and other products to the couple, although Wiggins recommends that those looking to donate give cash or gift certificates to grain stores.

Both Nuanez and Bernard suffered burns from the heat of the fire, but despite the physical results of his actions, Bernard said he wouldn’t change anything.

“Obviously I don’t want to have to face anything like this again, but I would do it again if I had to to save these horses,” he said. “We’re getting better, but it will just take some time.”

A fund has been set up to help the pair rebuild. Donations can be sent to the Blue Ribbon Stables Fire Rescue Fund, c/o Citizens Bank, 199 Route 101, Amherst, NH 03031.

Memorial contributions made to Fire Department

Bow Editor — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:38:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR

The Dunbarton Fire Department received $10,400 in the last year, after the passing of residents Vera Fogg, Nancy Graybill, and former selectmen and Fire Department volunteers Peter Montgomery and John Swindlehurst II.

“Obviously we appreciate these donations as we provide a service to the town at a pretty reasonable rate for a department that’s almost 100 percent volunteer,” said Fire Chief Jon Wiggin.

“Our goal, when money is donated to the association, is to purchase equipment we don’t have the funds for in the regular town budget.”

Swindlehurst served 50 years with the Dunbarton Fire Department, including 14 years as chief and several years as the forest fire warden.

The $2,000 donated by Swindlehurst went toward the purchase of new protective forest fire gear and forestry hand tools for the department.

With the $3,400 donated from Fogg, the department purchased a water and ice rescue sled and equipment.

“Her husband did the same when he died,” said Fogg’s close friend Donna Dunn of her estate’s contribution to the fire department. “She had needed their services several times and thought they were a great group of very caring people, who, as volunteers, were in need of a little extra help.”

Likewise, a memorial fund in honor of Montgomery contributed to a new laptop computer and PowerPoint projector, which totaled roughly $3,000.

Other funds from Montgomery were combined with money left by memorial contributions from Graybill, wife of former Selectman Chuck Graybill, to purchase two automatic defribulators.

“Now we have two more (defibrillators) on our apparatus,” said Wiggin. “We only had one on our ambulance, so if it was out of town we didn’t have one readily available.”

The state allowed Dunbarton to go on a combined bid, which helped Dunbarton receive the defribulators at a discounted rate of $1,000 apiece, said Wiggin, who noted that surplus funds from the donations will go toward scholarship funds in town.

The Fire Department also recently received memorial contributions from Leonard Jelly and Louis Dearborn.

Outside of these contributions and money from estates, Wiggin said the only other way the Dunbarton Fire Department Association is able to obtain additional funds is through its annual chicken barbecue.

In the past, benefits from the barbecue have been used to purchase several items for the department, including a new sign outside the public safety building.

This year, the fundraiser will take place Sunday, June 24, at the fire station on Robert Rogers Road, next to Dunbarton Elementary School.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for children and can be purchased at the Fire Department or through any firefighter or association member.

Tickets must be purchased by June 18.

Fuel theft – Resident turns himself in for allegedly stealing gas

Bow Editor — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:33:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR

A 24-year-old Dunbarton resident and former volunteer for the Dunbarton Fire Department, has been arrested and charged with theft by unauthorized taking, a Class A misdemeanor, after allegedly stealing fuel from the Dunbarton town pumps.

Derek Milioto turned himself into the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office on Tuesday, May 22, and was released on $500 personal recognizance bail.

Lead investigator Michael Russell, of the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office, said he doesn’t anticipate further charges coming against Milioto, who will be arraigned at Concord District Court on June 26.

Dunbarton selectmen initiated the investigation after an Oct. 26 meeting with Chief Jon Wiggin exposed discrepancies in fuel consumption.

The Oct. 26 selectmen’s meeting minutes state the following:
“Jon Wiggin questioned the amount expended in the Gasoline item. He stated he felt this was incorrect. There is only the old rescue truck which uses gasoline. He will check his slips. (Town Administrator) Janice VandeBogart will also check the item.”

Selectmen Chairman Les Hammond said, after the discrepancies were discovered, surveillance cameras were installed at the facility, which helped obtain helpful evidence.

“We found a year-and-a-half of missing gas, but we may not be able to prove that far back,” said Hammond. “We think roughly $3,000 to $4,000 is missing, but it’s a little murky as to exactly when it started. We feel we can prove at least $600 worth of fuel was taken.”

Working closely with the Police Department, road agent and County Attorney’s Office, Hammond said the town has been able to piece together a solid case.

“We found the problem, turned it over to police and through due diligence, have a suspect,” he said.

“The (investigators) have worked very well to get (the case) to where it is today. Now we’re just looking forward to a successful conclusion.”

The town, said Hammond, will attempt to be reimbursed, through legal action.

Though the case was opened by Dunbarton police, Chief Christopher Connelly said a conflict of interest arose, forcing his department to turn the case over to the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office.

“Any time there is the potential for a conflict of interest or the potential that we may appear to be exercising favoritism, we will turn the case over to an outside agency,” said Connelly. “We certainly don’t like there to ever be any questions in terms of the integrity of our investigations.”

Russell said because the investigation is ongoing, no details on the subject can be revealed.

Though details of the investigation are still limited, Hammond said the gas and diesel tanks at the town garage are used for public works, police and the fire department.

After a similar case of missing fuel several years ago and the replacement of an old fuel system with new tanks and pumps, Hammond said the town instituted a key system where each department recieved several fuel pump keys for their vehicles.

In this case, Hammond said it is apparent that one of the Fire Department’s keys went missing.

Since the discovery of the recent fuel stealing, he said the town has decided to update the security system so each of the town’s vehicles will have a unique key, which will remain on the key ring of that vehicle.