Barnstead selectmen discuss videotaping: See page A2. The Baysider THURSDAY, JULY, 15, 2010 COVERING ALTON, BARNSTEAD, & NEW DURHAM - THEBAYSIDER.COM FREE Firefighters battle heat, flames on Mount Major BY WESTON SAGER cause. A tent partially con- Staff Writer sumed by flames was also ALTON — Firefighters Coordinated found nearby. from across the state suc- Campfires on Mount Ma- cessfully extinguished a efforts squelch jor are forbidden without ex- fire last Thursday that plicit permission from the threatened to consume large State of New Hampshire. portions of Mount Major’s more than People from Woodman’s forest. Cove first identified the fire For three days the New six acres of after they saw smoke rising Hampshire Forest Rangers from the mountainside. and fire departments from Their observations were ver- across the state fought burning forest ified by fire towers in the the near seven-acre fire and area, but hazy conditions 90-degree temperatures to made it difficult to pinpoint preserve one of the Lakes area of Mount Major in the exact location of the fire Region’s popular hiking 2008,” explained Nowell. “We initially. destinations. applied the lessons learned Roughly 75 firefighters No one was seriously from that fire to help put out and related personnel were harmed, but several fire- this one.” active in combating the fighters working on the The fire broke out some- Mount Major fire at any giv- mountain suffered from heat time Tuesday morning and en time, according to exhaustion, fatigue, and de- was extinguished by 3 p.m. Williams. Crews were taken hydration due to last week’s Thursday afternoon. Local from all corners of the state heat wave. firefighting crews returned so as not to compromise local Several firefighters com- on Friday to confirm the fire firefighting efforts. plaining of headaches and was over. Even despite these meas- other symptoms of heat ex- “The men and women who ures, a four-alarm fire in haustion were taken to a fought the fire deserve a lot of Gilmanton on Wednesday nearby hospital for precau- credit,” lauded Williams. temporarily diverted man- tionary measures. A New “We were very, very organ- power from Mount Major. Hampshire Metropolitan ized. We just wish it hadn’t None of the hiking trails Medical Reserve System re- lasted so long.” on Mount Major were affect- lief tent was set up on the Investigations into the ori- ed, but the parking lot at the mountain after a day of op- gin of the fire are ongoing. base of Mount Major was erations to provide firefight- But officials are confident closed during operations. ers suffering from heat-re- that a reflector stove found JOSHUA SPAULDING ■ lated ailments with IVs, air on the mountainside was the SEE FIRE PAGE A15 THIS HELICOPTER, with its 100-gallon bucket, was instrumental in fighting the fire on Mount Major last week. conditioning, fluids and medical supervision. The treacherous moun- tain terrain compounded problems for the crews. Not Barnstead welcomes Fire Chief Mark Tetreault only did it prevent firefight- BY WESTON SAGER the Barnstead fire depart- ers from working at night Staff Writer ment prior to his arrival, in- when temperatures are typi- BARNSTEAD — By all A day of firsts for Barnstead emergency services cluding former Barnstead cally lower, it also hampered accounts, it was a historic fire chief George “Rusty” their ability to run water occasion. Barnstead fire department fire chief Mark Tetreault of tion in the Barnstead Par- Krause. hoses to the site of the Barnstead welcomed its in 1909. Epsom in front of family, ade Fire Station Monday “The Barnstead fire de- flames. first full-time fire chief 101 Selectmen Chairman Jim friends and community evening. partment already has a great “The terrain was about as years after founding the Barnard inaugurated new members at a public recep- Although Chief Tetreault foundation,” said Tetreault. ugly as you could ask for,” has already been serving as “I want to help the fire de- said Alton Fire Chief Scott Barnstead’s new fire depart- partment continue to grow.” Williams. ment head since June 14, it “It’s a step up,” said State Relying on a privately was the first public welcom- Representative Elaine Swin- owned Bell JetRanger heli- ing of the new official and ford. “It’s a good thing for the copter with an attached his family. town’s support system and 100-gallon bucket, crews “This is a historic day for organization.” were able to gather water Barnstead,” said Barnard. His wife Cindy, brother from a nearby “beaver pond” “After 100 years we finally Bob, daughter Holly, and and dump it on the fire have a full-time fire chief.” sons Ben and Matthew ac- to contain it. Earlier this year Barn- companied Chief Tetreault “The helicopter was es- stead voters agreed to trans- for this historic evening. sential in the early stages,” form the Barnstead fire de- “This is very exciting for said Williams. “We realized partment from a private en- him,” said Cindy. “He’s been early on that we could not tity to a municipal depart- working hard for over 20 put our men and women ment with a full-time fire years to get this job. We’re all up there without serious chief. very proud.” ramifications.” It was a day of firsts for Chief Tetreault began Even with the oppressive the town of Barnstead, but it firefighting at the age of 18 in heat, drought conditions and was also a new beginning for Franklin. After serving for unforgiving landscape, New the Tetreault family as they several years as a firefighter Hampshire Forest Ranger were officially welcomed in- in Bedford and Hooksett, he Captain Bryan Nowell said to the Barnstead community. worked for more than a the operation went “pretty “So far, so good,” said decade as a fire marshal in well.” Chief Tetreault. “The people Durham and Londonderry “We had a fire in the same have been welcoming and before accepting the position COURTESY ■ down-to-earth. Everyone as Barnstead’s first full-time Staying cool here really cares about their fire chief. NDEX community.” All told, Chief Tetreault I Chandler Schmidt (left), Haley Dame (right) and Nicholas Dame (partially obscured) beat the recent July ▼ Chief Tetreault acknowl- heat on a trampoline on Half Moon Lake in Alton. Volume 6 • Number 28 edged those who served in SEE CHIEF PAGE A14 28 Pages in 2 Sections Business........................A7, B7 RY RGE •RE SU ST Churches.............................A8 • O S R Historical society hosting C A I T T I Classifieds .................B8 - B11 E V E H ) ) T • S ( ) P ersey Editorial Page......................A4 E R J A the Old Man caretaker E V • E S H N John Harrigan ...................B12 T Peaches T N A A ¢ ALTON — On July 20, of the Mountain. The pro- T L I P V E M I • lb. Letters.................................A4 the Alton Historical Soci- gram will be held at the 50 ety will host David Gilman Museum, at 7 p.m. Obituaries ...........................A8 Nielsen, the official care- The Gilman Museum is lo- Dr. Hugh’s Dental PC Hubert W. Hawkins IV MPH DDS Public Notices ...................B10 taker of the Old Man of the cated on the corner of Mountain. His presenta- Main Street and Route 140 209 Cottage Street, Littleton, NH (603) 444-4141 Sports ..........................B1 - B4 tion will include visuals, in Alton. The society ©2010, Salmon Press, LLC. and he will be signing guarantees an "exciting" Beautiful Ceramic Crowns Call us at (603) 569-3126 copies of his new book, 101 program. in One Visit. email: [email protected] Glimpses of the Old Man DrHughsDental.com www.salmonpress.com A2 THE BAYSIDER, THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2010 Selectmen hear proposal on videotaping meetings BY BILLY PERKINS an electronic bulletin the character generators. effectively become a mem- get the meetings taped and Selectman Dave Kerr Contributing Writer board. Barnstead Elemen- LRPA, however, does ber of the organization, broadcast. Currently,there said that if selectmen's BARNSTEAD — The tary School also runs a charge $5 per subscriber Glassman said that are no recordings of the meetings are taped and prospect of having town similar channel. Both for each town that utilizes Beauchaine recommended meetings, and the only broadcast, the town's meetings videotaped channels, he said, are pro- its services. Glassman said that the town then reserve record of them is from school board meetings proved to be a dominant duced through character the town could use a por- a seat on LRPA's governing meeting minutes. should be, too. topic of discussion be- generators. tion of the money it re- board. Selectmen last week Additionally, the town tween selectmen last week. After speaking with LR- ceives from a MetroCast Board Chairman Jim mulled over the matter. will also be re-negotiating Resident Alan Glass- PA station director Denise franchise fee to pay for the Barnard told Glassman “The input from people a contract with MetroCast man, who has been re- Beauchaine, Glassman said service for the roughly that the town would need in town is that they would next year. searching the idea of hav- it wouldn't be too difficult 1,200 cable subscribers in voter approval at next be very interested in hav- ing meetings taped and to have meetings broadcast town. year's Town Meeting to join ing these meetings taped,” Other business shown on a public access on LRPA's channel on Currently, the money LRPA, and then it could be- said Selectman Kathy Gril- In other business, select- channel for the past sever- MetroCast. from the franchise fee — gin taping meetings.