MANCHESTER, NH – A fire at Residences at Manchester Place on the corner of Bridge and Elm Street forced the evacuation of 500 residents on Tuesday night.
Fire crews responded to a 911 call reporting a deck fire on the top floor of the building, at 1200 Elm St. Upon arrival smoke was showing from the top floor/roof area adjacent to apartment 901. Firefighters ascended the stairs to access this area and discovered that a section of a sun deck adjacent to 901 was on fire. Alarms were not yet sounding and a maintenance person was attempting to extinguish the blaze to no avail. A second alarm was sounded and firefighters began to extinguish the fire while simultaneously evacuating the 204-unit fully occupied building via the stairwells, which amounted to about 500 residents. Firefighters had to cut away an approximate 15-by-15 foot section of decking along with roofing material underneath to access the fire that was permeating these areas.
The occupant(s) of apartment 901 were not home at the time of the fire.
In addition, a section of parapet wall had to be opened up to extinguish the hidden fire. The ceiling of the apartment directly below was opened up to check for and extinguish extending fire. This apartment below sustained some water and smoke damage but is habitable.
One challenge firefighters faced was that the automatic alarms did not initially alert the residents to the danger, as the fire was on an outside patio area. Upon discovery of a fire the on-scene firefighters pulled the fire alarm to notify the residents.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the MFD Fire Marshall’s office. At this time it is classified as undetermined.
Estimated damage is $10,000. The building is owned by Northland Investment Properties.
