Overview
- About 60 staff and patients evacuated the Greater Nashua Mental Health building before the blast, and everyone was accounted for.
- Three firefighters suffered significant but non-life-threatening injuries; one was released from the hospital and two remain admitted.
- The four-alarm fire was under control by 6 p.m., the structure was declared a total loss, and utility crews shut off the damaged gas line.
- The State Fire Marshal and Liberty Utilities are investigating, with falling ice striking exterior gas infrastructure identified as a working theory.
- A cellphone alert instructing people to extinguish flames and be ready to evacuate went out more widely than intended, and officials are assessing the system’s performance.