Fire destroys snow plow fleet in New Hampshire town

With another snowstorm expected to bring up to a foot of snow in New England, a New Hampshire town might be without snow plows.

A fire destroyed a fleet of plows in the small town of Henniker. The fire started at the Henniker Highway Department Friday night after the plows finished clearing the streets.

The state fire marshal’s office said five dump trucks, one road grader and several other vehicles used to plow that were stored in the town garage were destroy. Damages could exceed $1 million.

Investigators say the fire started in the engine in one of the trucks and quickly spread.

"This puts the town in a bad spot," Henniker Fire Chief Steve Burritt told the Concord Monitor. "The town has a serious problem for snow removal. Not that there isn't a solution, but it's going to be a challenge."

The garage did have a full fire alarm system, but the fire department was unable to remove the vehicles because of the heavy smoke and flames, State Fire Marshal J. William Degnan said. The building was not equipped with a sprinkler system.

The only remaining heavy equipment were two pickup trucks and a front-end loader, which were parked outside and spared from the blaze. No injuries were reported.

The forecast was calling for 8 to 12 inches of snow on Monday, following the recent blizzard that buried parts of New England under several feet of snow.

The Associated Press contributed to this report