Fire Discovered in Home During Inspection with Prospective Buyer

A fire was discovered inside a Hampton home during a real estate inspection on Thursday, according to the Hampton Fire Department.

Hampton Fire Chief Jameson Ayotte said a property inspector as well as a prospective buyer discovered a fire in one of the closets of the Mills Road home in the early afternoon hours. Ayotte said the inspector called the fire department and attempted to extinguish the fire himself and believed he was successful until firefighters responded to the scene.

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"Firefighters arrived and found smoke coming from the building," Ayotte told Seacoast Current. "The captain transmitted the box, which means everybody goes. We arrived to find fire on the second floor. We quickly extinguished that and worked to make sure it didn't extend to any portion of the house as well as salvage any goods below because of the water that seeped down."

Ayotte said extensive damaged was sustained to the second floor and water damage was reported on the first floor of the single-family home. Windows were blown out of the second floor for purposes of ventilation. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Although the cause of the fire remains unknown, Ayotte noted it was fortunate to have the real estate inspector as well as a prospective buyer of the home present to discover the fire that might otherwise have been unnoticed before spreading further.

"To have eyes on it," Ayotte said, "we were very lucky. The fire is under investigation and will be for some time, so nothing further to report on that."

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