By Julie Huss
CHESTER — Fire crews responding to a local brush fire on May 21 passed another fire in progress on the way.
Chester fire personnel were on their way to check out a small brush fire on Haverhill Road at approximately 2:30 p.m., and noticed smoke and fire coming from the front of a house at 151 Haverhill Road.
Chester Fire Chief Rich Antoine said the home was an older structure, adding the fire started at the front of the house and was working its way up in the vents, eventually ending up mostly in the home's attic.
Upon arrival, Antoine said he went around to the back of the house, went inside and found a woman and her young child, unaware there was a fire.
Antoine said the family got out safely and things could have been much worse if the fire crews hadn't been going by when they did.
"There was a lot of fire in the attic," he said, adding most of the damage remained in the attic area, with some water damage in the lower levels. Nothing else in the house was destroyed, he said, and he is thankful fire crews were in the right place at the right time.
The home is listed as the Gregory Peters residence. Antoine said the cause of the fire is still undetermined.
