Fire destroys home in Rockingham

Posted

ROCKINGHAM — A man lost his home to a fire Wednesday morning while going out for breakfast.

According to the Rockingham Fire Department, crews were dispatched to a structure fire on Robinson Street around 9:30 a.m., arriving to heavy smoke and fire showing.

Several individuals at the scene reportedly told firefighters that a male occupant was unaccounted for and crews searched the home, finding no one.

The home’s lone occupant had reportedly gone to the store before the fire began. After he was accounted for, crews worked to contain the fire and eliminate hot spots.

According to Chief Harold Isler, the home had no electricity and the man was using a fireplace for heat. Temperatures had been near or below freezing all day on Tuesday and dropped to the teens overnight.

The occupant said that some of the embers had escaped the fireplace and started a fire on the floor “that extended to a nearby stack of wood inside the house,” according to Isler.

Believing the fire was extinguished, the man left after about 45 minutes to get breakfast, Isler added. Shortly after he left, neighbors reported the fire.

No injuries or fatalities were reported.

The American Red Cross has been called in to assist the man, Isler said.

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