DIXFIELD – Fire destroyed a 70-foot section of roof over a large bay at Bradbury’s Garage off Weld Street on Tuesday afternoon. No one was injured.

Fire Chief Scott Dennett, who interviewed garage workers, said frost-heaving action may have caused a waste-oil burner pipe to separate from its roof connector, enabling the exhaust to shoot into the eaves instead of out the pipe end above the roof.

“There probably was flames shooting up through there and it caught the roof and ceiling on fire, shooting through the roof and up into the truss area,” Dennett said.

The fire was spotted by an employee who was outside steam-cleaning equipment about 2:50 p.m. Others inside also smelled smoke and investigated. Then one person called 911 while the others attacked the fire with several fire extinguishers and a hose.

“They did the right thing by calling 911 as quick as they did,” Peru fire Chief Bill Hussey said on scene.

Workers also quickly moved a large slasher piece of logging equipment and excavator from the garage, while another drove out a small bulldozer.

As flames shot out a window in the roof crawl space and thick white smoke poured from the roof, an estimated 35 Peru, Dixfield, Mexico and Rumford firefighters arrived, while Dixfield and Mexico police shut down sections of Pine and Weld streets to protect fire hoses.

Peru firefighters arrived first, even though their department is a little farther away than Dixfield’s.

“That’s a perfect example of our excellent mutual aid,” Dennett said. All four towns automatically respond to structure fires in each other’s towns.

While they were getting hoses, water from hydrants, and manpower ready, fire erupted through the eaves along the trusses as thick white, then black- and mustard-colored smoke towered above the roof.

First on scene Peru Capt. Dean Milligan quickly assessed the blaze and took a crew equipped as he – with self-contained breathing gear on – inside to the top of stairs to attack a fire they couldn’t see but heard.

“There was thick black smoke inside,” Dixfield firefighter Chris Moretto said afterward. “You could hear it cracking and popping all the way down to where we were. The fire was the full length of the ceiling.”

Their goal until they and other firefighters were called outside at 3:17 p.m., was to stop the fire from getting into the other half of the garage, which they did. Ten minutes later, the bulk of the fire was knocked down. After that, it was a mop-up and douse operation as the fire inside eaves stubbornly resisted.

At one point, owner Clinton Bradbury had an employee use the excavator to tear down the roof, enabling firefighters easier access.

Bradbury, who rushed over from his Rumford specialty wood business, said the garage was insured. He estimated the damage – not counting any tools that may have been destroyed – at $25,000. Dennett thought it might be as high as $30,000.

“It took me 25 years to build it, and I hated to see it go down in 25 minutes,” Bradbury said. “It was a long ride down here when they told me it was on fire.”

Not only did Bradbury assist firefighters with his excavator, but money he donated to help Peru’s fire department buy a thermal imaging camera, paid off when they twice used it to search for hot spots within the garage roof and walls.

He estimated that his garage employees would be out of work with the business closed for at least a day.