Don Canney

As a kid growing up in Nashua, I admittedly did my share of chasing fires with family and friends in the 1960’s, sometimes running downtown or hopping into a car to race to the scene of the blaze. Not sure why, but it might have been just a need to see what was going on, curiosity, boredom, admiration for how the firefighters worked, or all the above. Nashua has seen its share of spectacular fires throughout its history, most notably, the great Crown Hill fire of the 1930s, which saw much of the Crown Hill neighborhood surrounding the Allds and Arlington Street area, leveled.

We’d get tips of any ongoing police or fire activity without the luxury of police or fire scanners, the internet or phone apps. Just plain old word-of-mouth, calls from friends and neighbors or listening for those daunting honks of the infamous “boodang” located at the top of was then then the Central Fire Station on 14 Court Street, which is now, ironically, the site of a brewery. We were able to count the number of boodang honks and relate it to a card we had tape to a kitchen cabinet. Those cards were often provided as a public service (with advertising of course) by local merchants. The numbers cross referenced fire alarm boxes established throughout the city so we could figure out the general geographic area.

A Feb. 20, 1967, Nashua Telegraph “Nashua Fire Special Edition” reported on a spectacular blaze that leveled the former Nashua Supply Company, a hardware store at 74 Main Street at the corner of Pearson Avenue. Typical hardware merchandise such as oil-based paint, stain, and turpentine (this was the pre-latex era) caused havoc for firefighters as cans of the highly flammable liquids exploded amongst the flames. The blaze took place across the street from Telegraph offices at the time, and not far from where the Telegraph offices are located today, causing the building to be evacuated.

The explosion of paint cans simulating the sound of gunfire caused the firefighting crews to feel as though they were in the midst of warfare. The multiple alarm fire attracted crews from eight different communities, as far away as Manchester. Damage was estimated at $500,000. In today’s dollars, probably about the price of an average house, but in 1967 dollars, it was the equivalent of over $4,000,000.

September of 1973 saw a general alarm fire at the former Nashua Lumber company on Kehoe Avenue. That business was located a stone’s throw from Crown Hill and must have sent chills through the spines of any resident in that area who lived through the great conflagration of the thirties. As can be imagined, a lumber yard fire burns quite quickly, particularly in the warmer, drier months. With an estimated damage of over $1,000,000 (which equates to $6,000,000 plus today) the flames also heavily damaged a nearby apartment building, the PM McKay and Sons Contracting company on Marshall Street as well as the Francis P. Connor and Son building on Harbor Avenue.

It seemed like many of the more serious residential fires occurred during the winter months, probably due to more frequent use of improperly installed wood stoves and the much less safe space heaters of the day. Heaters then were not subject to the stricter quality control, inspection, and UL testing requirements of today and were more subject to malfunction.

Advances in fire detecting and prevention equipment have thankfully reduced the number of fatalities and damage seen in fires. Smoke detectors and fire extinguishers are cheap insurance, especially when compared to the value they provide. It may be overkill, but I have ten smoke detectors in my home, some powered and some battery. Needless to say, I am quite busy come “changing of the clock time” when the batteries get replaced in each and every one.

In a prior column, I wrote about a fire I personally experienced as a kid on Cedar Street in the 1960’s where three young children lost their lives. That image remains stamped in my memory forever. One can only imagine what just one of today’s simple battery-operated smoke detectors could have prevented back then.

Don Canney is a freelance writer and professional voice artist. He was born and raised in downtown Nashua with great interest in Nashua history circa 1950-1970. He now resides in Litchfield.