NASHUA, NH — Nashua Fire Rescue received multiple calls for a commercial building on fire at 495 Amherst St. on Friday. While firefighters were en route, they could see a glow and smoke in the sky from almost two miles away.

The first companies arrived after 7:15 p.m. to heavy fire burning through the roof of a strip mall, with the heaviest fire coming from the Asian Market. A second alarm was immediately requested, and as the fire quickly spread, it began to burn several power lines.

Amherst Street had to be shut down as burning power lines threatened to fall and were still energized. Eversource was requested to the scene, and bystanders were pushed back from the scene due to the dangerous situation.

At one point, the insulation from the burning power lines began falling on one of the Nashua engines and was burning through hoses. Firefighters hosed the fire engine down and ran new hose lines as the others were burned through.

Master streams of water were set up with two ladder trucks so that large amounts of water could be applied to the fire while keeping firefighters away from the live power lines. The roof of the strip mall collapsed as the fire burned, and the weight of the water brought down part of the structure.

The bulk of the fire was knocked down about one hour after the arrival at the scene. Crews continued to apply water and chase hot spots as they continued to wait for Eversource crews to arrive. Crews used saws to cut steel doors of the businesses to access them and continue extinguishing the fire.

Nashua Deputy Chief Kevin Kerrigan said crews had just cleared a hazmat scene on the Daniel Webster Highway that lasted for several hours when the fire came in. They were hampered by the downed and burning power lines, and being able to access the scene with the traffic backed up on Amherst Street.

After about an hour, Eversource arrived and began disconnecting lines that continued to burn, allowing crews to extinguish burning branches.

The cause and origin of the fire are being investigated, Kerrigan said. While the heaviest fire was in the Asian Market, investigators will determine where the fire originated later.

Due to the age of the building, there were no sprinklers, and the sprinklers were not required by the fire code. The plaza has two vacant stores and three occupied businesses. Kerrigan said the pizza shop and Asian market were open.

©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news

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