Fire destroys Sixth Street barn in Dover, shuts down road

Ian Lenahan, Foster's Daily Democrat
·2 min read

DOVER — A barn fire shut down Sixth Street for three hours early Monday morning as crews from Dover and nine surrounding communities extinguished the flames.

The Dover Fire Department was alerted to a structure fire at 365 Sixth St. at 3:07 a.m., according to the department. The fire had consumed a barn, which did not have any animals or people inside.

A barn at 365 Sixth Street in Dover has been deemed a total loss after an early morning fire destroyed the structure on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023.
A barn at 365 Sixth Street in Dover has been deemed a total loss after an early morning fire destroyed the structure on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023.

Fire Department officials reported Monday the fire had been burning undetected “for quite some time.” Water lines were established through two hydrants as the blaze went to two alarms.

“All companies commenced with fire suppression in a defensive mode with a primary objective to keep the fire from spreading to residential and other structures on the property,” the Dover Fire Department stated.

Fire crews cleared the scene at 6:58 a.m. Monday.

The barn has been rendered a total loss by the Dover Fire Department but no other structures on the property were damaged. No civilians, firefighters, animals or livestock were injured in the fire, and Sixth Street was reopened to vehicular traffic.

“Even though the North End Fire Station is only about a mile from the property, the fire developed to such an extent (that) crews were not able to get ahead of it to save the structure,” the fire department stated. “It's a terrible loss for the owners. However, the close proximity of the fire station was a critical factor in keeping the fire from spreading to other structures.”

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The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though fire officials do not believe it to be suspicious.

Providing mutual aid at the scene were crews from Barrington, Newington, Newmarket, Rochester, Rollinsford and Somersworth in New Hampshire, and Berwick, South Berwick and the York Village Fire Department from Maine, in addition to McGregor EMS.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Fire destroys Sixth Street barn in Dover NH