“It’s going to be pretty ‘business as usual’ for us,” he said. “We’ve got the right insurance for the worst-case scenario, and this isn’t even that.”

By about 11 a.m., Halloran and crews from multiple fire departments were still working at the scene, with a “couple hot spots” remaining in the wreckage, he said.

Once that work wrapped up, Halloran said attention from the department and from outside agencies would turn to an investigation about the cause of the fire. There was no initial indication of what sparked it, but he said foul play was not suspected. And although he said causes of house fires can typically be identified the same day, he expects this investigation will likely be more complicated and time-consuming.

The site of the fire was directly behind the Trainwreck Saloon, on Manchester. Sitting just yards away from the blaze, it was an eventful — and restless — night for the bar’s staff, some of whom stayed there overnight, serving coffee and breakfast food to the fire crews.

George Hansford, who serves as president for Trainwreck and has been with the business for 37 years, got to the scene with his wife at around 1 a.m., to see what they could do to help.