Fire ripped through a storage barn in a Moultonboro Neck campground Sunday afternoon, destroying the barn along with a Jeep Wrangler and a mobile home stored inside.

Fire Chief David Bengtson said one side of the storage barn, which was 'L" shaped and built with a wooden frame and corrugated tin walls and roofs, was completely in flames when the first trucks arrived at the Long Island Bridge Campground around 3:30 p.m.

"There were several explosions," said Bengtson explaining the mobile home or recreational vehicle, the Jeep, and all the lawn equipment stored there were filled with gasoline. "There were multiple propane tanks and my first concern was firefighter safety."

As a backhoe removed pieces of tin and the air would rekindle new pockets of flames, Bengtson pointed to a pile of propane tanks, two of which had exploded, lying in a pool of water out of harm's way. "It was pretty dicey for a while," he said.

"Once that mobile home caught fire, it was like having a building fire inside a barn fire," said Bengtson.

Firefighters were able to prevent any damage to another storage barn less than 50 feet away from the large one that burned.

Bengtson said the central station is manned on weekends during the summer months and the department's quick response may have stopped the fire from jumping to the nearby storage barn.

The building is owned by Dan and Eda Watson. Their grandson, who watched as the storage barn went up in flames, said his family has owned the campground for as long as he can remember, perhaps as far back as the 1960s.

He said the mobile home belonged to his grandparents and the Jeep belonged to one of his uncles.

People from the various camping trailers stood and watched as the black smoke poured into the sky.

EXPLODED AND UNEXPLODED propane tanks sit in a puddle of water after being taken from a burning barn on Moultonboro Neck Sunday afternoon. OBER/Citizen photo Click here to view Foster's prints for sale

One couple who identified themselves at the Byrons from Chelmsford, Mass. said so many boaters crowded along the beach to watch the fire, the N.H. Marine Patrol had to send in a boat for crowd control.

"The smoke was so black and it seemed like boats were coming from everywhere," said Mrs. Byron.

Black plumes of smoke could be seen as far away as North Main Street in Laconia.

Bengtson said one of the lawn tractors that had just been used and restored in the building appeared to be the cause of the fire, but added he would not be able to complete his investigation until all the hot spots were out.

No campground employees, guests, or firefighters were injured in the blaze.

Bengtson said the blaze went to one alarm and firefighters from Meredith, Sandwich, Holderness, Sandwich responded. A Tuftonboro firetruck covered the central Moultonborough station.

Firefighters were joined by the Meredith EMS and Moultonborough Police who assisted with traffic and crowd control.

Bengtson said he expected crews would be on the scene well into the evening.