LONDONDERRY — A fire severely damaged the first floor of a duplex on Trolley Car Lane last night, forcing two families out of their homes.
Firefighters were called at 8:54 p.m. as flames tore through one side of the duplex, gutting the interior and scorching the front. When firefighters arrived, everyone had safely evacuated the building.
Although it only took about 10 minutes for firefighters to put out the blaze, the first floor of 15A Trolley Car Lane was destroyed.
"They made the attack and put it out very quickly," fire Chief Kevin MacCaffrie said.
But firefighters remained at the scene for at least a couple of hours. Charred debris pulled from the home lay in the snow outside.
The first floor of the burned unit had been a garage converted into a bedroom. The second floor received minor smoke damage.
MacCaffrie said the amount of damage was undetermined and that the cause was still under investigation. At least two people were in the unit that caught fire. The names of the couple, who declined to comment, were not available last night.
The residents of the adjoining home, 15B, didn't realize the building was in flames until they were warned by their neighbors.
"I didn't know until he opened the door and yelled, 'Fire!'" said Steven Salvage.
While the damage to 15A made it uninhabitable, Salvage's home received only minor smoke damage. But since electricity to the building was cut off during the fire, he and his family could not stay there last night.
Salvage's wife, Jackie, said she couldn't tell the building was on fire until she began to evacuate.
"I could smell it when it was coming down the stairs," she said. "There was this big black smoke billowing out of their door." Her brother, James Howe, said he was watching television when the lights suddenly went out.
"The lights started to flicker and I thought we were going to just lose power," Howe said. The Salvages, their two children and Howe quickly fled the building and called the Fire Department.
Trolley Car Lane, a dead-end road, was blocked to traffic by police for about an hour after the fire. Fire engines from Windham and Derry also responded to the blaze.
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