Bathroom Destroyed, But Windham House Survives Holiday Blaze

While homes around the country contend with holiday fires originating from dried up Christmas trees, cooking and other typical seasonal household hazards, one Windham family suffered extensive damage to its 24 Ministerial Road home Thursday when a blaze began in the ceiling of an upstairs bathroom.

According to a release from the Windham Fire Department, firefighters were dispatched to the house, which is located off Cobbetts Pond Road, around 2:30 p.m. for a reported electrical fire.

The 1.5-story structure had smoke coming from the roof and personnel from Salem, Derry, Londonderry, Pelham and Hudson were called in to assist in battling the blaze.

Firefighters were quickly able to locate the source of the fire in a bathroom ceiling and into the attic. The fire was quickly knocked down, but not before considerable damage resulted in the bathroom ceiling and some of the roof rafters within the attic. The remainder of the home had some smoke damage, but was otherwise unscathed and remained habitable. 

The homeowners were reportedly home at the time of the fire, which they were alerted to by working smoke detectors, which Windham Fire Department officials credit to keeping the overall damage to a minimum.

Deputy Chief William Martineau, investigating the cause of the fire, determined the official cause of the blaze to be from a faulty ceiling fan within the bathroom.