Early morning fire destroys about an acre of greenhouse

An early morning two-alarm fire on Jan. 21 at Pleasant View Gardens in Loudon, N.H., destroyed a 1-acre greenhouse range. The greenhouse that was destroyed was one of the company’s oldest and 11 acres still remain. The company was able to salvage about 25% of the production space and expects to have it up and operating within a few weeks.
The Concord Monitor reported that Pleasant View facilities manager Russ Elkins received a phone alarm warning that was triggered when the temperature dropped in the greenhouse. Elkins arrived to find the fire burning. He called 911 resulting in firefighters from six surrounding towns responding to the fire, which was contained within an hour.
The paper said officials from the state fire marshal's office have begun an investigation into the fire’s cause. A state environmental official also inspected an adjacent chemical storage building that was burned to ensure no leakage had occurred.
Elkins told the paper the greenhouse was about half-filled with young annuals. He estimated that it would cost at least $1 million to rebuild the greenhouse.
The company has opened an area not normally used for production to ensure continued supply of plant material. Pleasant View is looking at its options to rebuild and plans to have new production in place by April 1.