Fire heavily damaged an unoccupied condominium unit in Plaistow Thursday afternoon.

Crews were met with heavy fire and high heat when they first arrived at the 4-unit building on Newton Road around 2:40 p.m., according to the Plaistow Fire Department. They began what the department called an "aggressive interior fire attack" that successfully confined the fire to one unit.

The fire went to three alarms and was brought under control within 34 minutes of arrival.

The building was unoccupied by residents, but several animals were rescued from the fire. No injuries were reported to any firefighters.

"This fire was contained to one unit because of a fast response. Waiting another 10-minutes for a fire engine to arrive would have created momentum of the fire and the entire complex would have had significant damage," the department wrote on its Facebook page.

A preliminary investigation determined the cause of the fire to be accidental.

Fire crews from Atkinson, Salem, Hampstead, Haverhill, Newton, Kingston, East Kingston, Danville, Derry, Merrimac, Amesbury, and Sandown responded, along with Trinity EMS and Trinity Rehab.

It was the Plaistow Fire Department's 47th fire of the year. 19 of the fires were building fires.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH

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