Harrison Thorp 8:22 a.m.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016 8:23 am

A couple of Rochester firefighters monitor the aftermath of a smoky incident that occurred in the crawspace of The Governor's Inn annex on Monday. (Lebanon Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - Downtown landmark The Governor's Inn suffered some smoke and water damage on Monday when it is believed an upstairs bathroom fan overheated sending smoke into an attic crawl space causing insulation there to smolder.

Paul Sutton, a guest at the inn's annex, said he heard the alarm go off around 10:30 a.m.

"The alarm went off, it wasn't too loud, so we went outside of the room, but couldn't see or smell smoke. Then we went downstairs and we could smell it a little," Sutton said standing in the inn's back yard next to a duffle bag with all his belongings. "Then we came outside and we could see just a little smoke under the eaves."

Governor's Inn owner Herman Ejarque said the smoke alarms worked perfectly, but the sprinkler system in the annex didn't activate because there was no open flame.

"There was some smoke in the insulation in the crawlspace, but not in the guest rooms or public area," Ejarque said.

No injuries were reported.
The fire is under investigation by the New Hampshire Fire Marshall and the Rochester Fire Department.