2-Alarm Fire in Downtown Portsmouth

UPDATED, 3:30 p.m.: A State Street art gallery and second story apartment sustained heavy fire, water and smoke damage from a 2-alarm fire that broke out in the attic on Friday afternoon.

Portsmouth Fire Chief Christopher LeClaire said they received the call around 2 p.m. and the first companies reported heavy smoke coming out of the roof and heavy fire in the attic of the building that houses the McLaughlin-Hills Art Gallery at 110 State St. and the Random Acts of Sweetness bakery at 112 State St.

LeClaire said city firefighters used the ladder truck and a free standing ladder to scale the building and then used axes and chainsaws to ventilate the roof.

"It was pretty intense for a few minutes," he said.

Portsmouth Police and city Public Works crews shut down the lower portion of State Street and Chapel Street as a crowd of onlookers gathered in front of the Agave Mexican restaurant across from the fire.

LeClaire said the fire was brought under control at 2:26 p.m., just before a second alarm was called out, which brought firefighters and apparatus from Rye, Stratham, Kittery, Maine and New Castle.

Fortunately, LeClaire the 1800s style building has fire walls that stretch from the top of the roof to the first level between the art gallery and the bakery and also at the very end of the building to prevent the fire to spreading to the adjacent brick building. As a result, the second and third floor apartment and the attic sustained the most fire, water and smoke damage. The art gallery sustained some water damage, which was worrisome for that business.

Elizabeth Kilgore, who has worked at the art gallery for two years, said she was concerned about the Latin-American artwork inside the gallery. City firefighters carried out several paintings and brought them to the bakery.

"I was closed because I was setting up for the Art Around Town tonight," Kilgore said. She added that the gallery's owner, Katherine McLaughlin, was out of town.

Kilgore said she was thankful for the fine job the city firefighters did to knock the fire down.

"I am so glad they are here in force," she said.

The building is owned by the mother of Cindy Dodds and her husband Gary Dodds. They arrived shortly before 3 p.m. after learning about the fire from a tenant. Gary Dodds said he was glad that no one was hurt.

"Obviously, I'm just concerned about the tenants and their belongings," said Cindy Dodds.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Earlier story: Firefighters battled a 2-alarm fire in a 3-story brick building on State Street on Friday afternoon.

The initial call for a fire at 112 State St. came in around 2 p.m., according to emergency radio communications. The fire reportedly started on the second floor, and smoke was showing from the roof.

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The main body of the fire was reportedly knocked down around 2:30 p.m., and firefighters were continuing to overhaul the building.

The building where the fire started houses the business Random Acts of Sweetness on the ground floor.

This is the second downtown fire in the past month. A fire in a Bow Street condo building on Feb. 1 went to 5 alarms before it was finally extinguished.