A chimney fire at a house on Mountain Road in Rindge broke through to the interior, prompting firefighters to sound a second alarm on Sunday night.
The Rindge Fire Department said in a press release that crews first responded to 44 Mountain Road at 7:41 p.m. for a report of a chimney fire that might have gone into the wall of the home.
Deputy Fire Chief Christopher Hill and Jaffrey Assistant Fire Chief Keith Dupuis arrived and found heavy smoke and an active fire. That prompted them to sound a second alarm at 7:53 p.m.
When firefighters entered the home, they found the walls around the chimney in the middle of the home in flames. Dupuis and the crew of 26 Engine 1, consisting of Lt. Joseph Bevilacqua, Lt. Taylor Seppala, Lt. Brian Dillon as the pump operator and firefighter Haley Hannon, started an aggressive attack inside, with no visibility because of the heavy smoke. The visible fire was put out within a few minutes of crews arriving.
Firefighters ripped open the walls and ceiling of the 1889 single-family home to check for further spread of the fire. The crews overhauled the interior of the property, identified hot spots, and ventilated the building for approximately two hours to clear the smoke.
According to the press release, the home sustained serious fire, smoke and water damage, and is uninhabitable. Two residents were displaced.
The cause of the fire was determined to be a blockage in the pellet stove chimney. At the time of the fire, temperatures were in the single digits with wind chills near or at zero. No one was injured during the fire.
Rindge was assisted on the scene by fire crews from Jaffrey, Fitzwilliam, Troy, Richmond, Peterborough and New Ipswich and Winchendon, Ashby, and Ashburnham, Mass., as well as Great Brook Emergency Medical Services.