Homeowner Displaced by 3-Alarm Fire Friday

Heather Bartis moved is a transplant from California who isn't particularly a fan of the cold and snow. But shortly before noon on Friday, she took her 2-year-old out to play in the snow and smelled the distinct scent of smoke.

Walking around the side of her home at 1 Brookwood Drive, she saw smoke coming from her neighbor's house. 

"I ran up and pounded on the door and was calling 911," Bartis said, adding that there was no answer when she banged on the door.

It wasn't until she got closer to the house, she said, that she saw the flames tucked behind the chimney.

Bartis said she feels like she was definitely in the right place at the right time.
"I never come outside, I hate the cold," Bartis said. "Something made me come outside today."

Fire Chief Mark Boynton said when first responders arrived, the fire was showing on the outside of the home and they immediately called a second alarm.

Amherst's fire department is all volunteer with exception of the chief and assistant chief, so they knew it would take a little time to get people there in the middle of the workday. The fire ultimately went to three alarms.

At least eight other communities – including Hollis, Brookline, Bedford, Merrimack, New Boston, Mont Vernon, Milford and Goffstown – responded to assist at the scene or to cover the fire station. The Salvation Army and Red Cross also  responded to assist firefighters  and the homeowner at the scene.

Because of where the home is located, outside of the village, there are no fire hydrants on the street. Boynton said they have regular protocol for fires not on public water and they quickly established a water line from the home to the end of Brookwood Drive where it meets New Boston Road. From there, tankers from several towns took turns filling up at the hydrant by Wilkins School and started relaying water to put on the fire.

"They knocked it down really fast," Boynton said. "It looks like it was probably a good save."

He added that keeping the water source flowing was never a problem.

"It takes more people, for sure, but we never ran into any difficulty with the water supply," Boynton said.

Boynton said the two-story Cape didn't appear to be a total loss, but he did say significant smoke and fire damage would make it uninhabitable. The home is owned by William Kopf, according to property records.

At the scene, Boynton said the fire remained under investigation, and he was unsure of the cause. The fire heavily damaged the right side of the building and appeared to have started in the corner between the home and garage, near the chimney, Boynton said.

Recently, Boynton expressed concern regarding a spate of four fires in the last year that had started around chimneys in home built in the 60s and 70s before more stringent fire codes were enforced. 

Boynton said the lack of fire codes and/or enforcement of codes during the building boom allowed many Amherst homes to be built without the proper separation between combustible materials and heat sources. 

The Cape at 3 Brookwood Drive is listed as having been built in 1958. 

Despite the fact that a fire just about a week ago destroyed at home at 11 Woodland Drive, Boynton said Amherst averages about six significant structure fires a year, so the latest is about par for the course. 

The fire on 11 Woodland drive on Dec. 5 displaced a single mom and her three children. A friend recently started a Go Fund Me campaign to help the family get back on their feet and to help mom Kerry Greenhalgh celebrate the holidays with her kids.