YOUR COMMENTS

We lived in Oklahoma City, OK for 6 years. Houses there were close together. The only thing that seperated them was a stockade fence. 6 ft. apart would not be exageration.
- Bob, Litchfield

Over the years thousands and thousands of prayers have gone out from that location. My hope and prayer is that the area recovers quicky and all are safe.
- Sandy, Pembroke

Wow, emotions are a little venomous for this one. It sucks that this happened, but lighten up people. Many people have a lot of different information. Just because it may be incorrect, or someone misspelled a word, doesn't mean you should get irrate over it. The conference center burned. Oh well, at least there will be more jobs created to rebuild it. As one person previously wrote, this area has always been prone to fires, and it has helped to sustain the ecosystem. It seems that since this area has been populated, the damaging fires have also stimulated jobs and the local economy. Maybe there is some good to this? There was no loss of life, the properties were insured, and now more people will be getting paychecks when the area is rebuilt. All of the workers will probably get hungry and go to the local restaurants, so those will see more business and make money. The companies they order from will have to deliver more products to them, and their suppliers will need more workers to keep up with demand. See, at least a little bit of the economy will benifit from this. And we didn't need the big 'O' to spend another trillion dollars to do it! It's just the natural cycle of things.
- Wayne F., Manchester

The person carrying the child is actually a police officer, not a fire fighter.
- Jay, Alton

You can bet that if restrictions are put on the rebuilding of the structures so closely together, someone will scream that this constitutes a 'taking' of the land and demand compensation.
- Texter, Newfields

Inspiring picture of the Firefighter carrying the baby...Thank goodness for men/women like him who become selfless!
- Douglas, Hudson

At least the UL coverage is a little less sensational than the "quality" coverage at WMUR. They lead off with a headline of 40 Homes Destroyed!...which is a lot different than 40 unoccupied sumemr cottages burn.... Reality check people
- John, Manchester

The Alton Bay region burns regularly due to the fact that the forest ecosystem in which inhabitants live was ( before people lived there) traditionally experiencing low intensity fires. They occurred naturally and played a vital role in helping to promote regeneration and maintaining balance within this system. All of the tree species that exist in this region ( white pine, red oak, red pine, pitch pine) all thrive under periodic low intensity fires. However over the last 175 years buildings and various other structures have all been built within the middle of this ecosystem and all forest fires have been suppressed. The end result is that when a forest fire does take place (usually in the early spring) it rages with a vengeance.
- stuart, meriden

I frankly cannot believe that the owners of the Center continue building these homes so close together. It is a recipe for disaster. There should be strict codes enforced for any future building on this parcel of land to ensure that the next time, the whole complex is not destroyed.
- Diane, Alton Bay

Pure speculation on my part Tom, but since there have been no reports of suspicion yet I assume the fires in Alton are related to the following:
The age of the homes, the newest fire retardant materials were not always added to older buildings.
The fact that the buildings were right on top of each other combined with the dry and windy conditions in the surrounding woods carried the flames from building to building.
It could also be a problem with the propane that is attached to these summer homes but propane/gas is generally safe and probably exploded AFTER the fire approached the tanks.

None of these reasons indicate that Alton is any more susceptible than another older seasonal community.
- Catherine, Exeter, NH

Let's hope those people all had insurance. It isn't surprising a fire like this happened yesterday, the winds were high all day.

To - anonamous, alton nh .. Take it easy on the UL, I imagine they print what they are told. Run a spell-checker next time, it's spelled anonymous.
- Jay, Londonderry

Why does Alton Bay always burn?
Seriously, there's a big fire there every year or so.
- Tom, Alton, NH

actually no fire fighter was air lifted... he was relesed about an hour after he was broughtin... get the facts straight before you go and make a huge story on something that didnt happen....
- anonamous, alton nh

On the Alton NH fire of state route 11 E/W Channel 9 tv has more comments then Union Leader. As of 12AM.

I spend my days as a kid going to Wolfeboro, Alton, Belmont, Gilford. for Skiing at Gunstock and spend my time at my summer home in Wolfeboro near Kingswood High school.

I also spent time on my boat in Alton Bay parking near the town docks where I spent eatting and walking where the fires were. Most of the resturants I don't think is open yet.
- Rob Siebert, Merrimack

actually the firefighter was taken by ambulance to lrgh and he was treated and released
- mike, alton

WMUR.com has more of the story, pics and video. What a mess!
- R, Raymond

God Bless all of the emergency personnel and I pray that the firefighter airlifted to DHMC is okay.
- Tricia, Lebanon

wow
- Phil, Copenhagen Denmark