Overnight Fire in Dover, NH Required Multiple Crews

Multiple crews were called to help the Dover Fire Department put out a structure fire early Friday morning.

It was reported that crews acted with great bravery as they battled the fire at 28 Hill Street.

Neighbor Deb Calabrese, who lives on Florence Street, said she could hear the sounds of emergency rescue crews getting the owner of the apartment building out.

"Hearing the banging on the door and yelling, 'This is Dover PD! Get out of the house!' I thought they were arresting someone until he followed with, 'Your house is on fire!' What a scary scene," Calabrese said.

Crews from Dover, Portsmouth, Rollinsford, Newington, Rochester, Newmarket, Lee, Berwick, Maine, and South Berwick, Maine, were on scene. McGregor Memorial EMS was also there in case there were injuries.

It was a busy night for fire crews on the Seacoast. A firefighter suffered burns and another person is unaccounted for following a large, three-alarm fire at a Northwood house on Thursday night.

Dover Deputy Fire Chief Michael McShane said their first mission after arriving at the scene was to make sure that everyone was out of the apartment building, which has three units.

One of the units was unoccupied for the night.

"We don't have all of that information, but we have to figure it out when we get there," McShane said.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 1:04 a.m. When they arrived, flames were shooting out the roof and smoke was billowing out the windows on the second and third floors.

The fire was declared under control at 1:57 a.m. Units were on scene until 4:28 a.m., McShane said.

Fire investigators from the Dover Fire Department were on scene at 9:30 a.m. McShane said they do not have initial ideas about what started the fire.

McShane said this is a good reminder to make sure multiple-unit buildings have hardwired smoke detectors that work and it is also a good reminder for residents on the Seacoast to make sure their smoke detector batteries are not dead.

Contact Managing News Editor Kimberley Haas at Kimberley.Haas@townsquaremedia.com.