Freedom — August 10, 2004 — An early-morning fire at Camp Cody on Ossipee Lake Monday demolished a multiple-use building that had been used as a wood shop over the summer and set up as a chapel for an incoming church group. Nobody was hurt in the blaze.

“There was nobody in the building,” emphasized Gene Doe, fire chief of Freedom Fire Department.

A Freedom firefighter was sent to the hospital suffering from the heat. The firefighter was treated and released at Huggins Hospital, Doe reported. Cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday afternoon, Doe said.

The fire broke out around 5:45 a.m. in a multi-use, house-type building used as a wood shop over the summer, according to Nick Robbins, assistant director of Camp Cody.

Summer camping ended Saturday, Aug. 7, and woodworking equipment had been moved out of the building for its use as a chapel. No children were in the vicinity of the building when the fire erupted, Robbins said.

“The summer camp was over. The campers weren’t on site. There were no campers around,” he said.

Counselors arrived early Monday but the children in the church group were not expected until later in the day, he said. A Chevy Blazer near the building also caught fire and was totaled, Doe said. A propane tank near the building began venting, or spouting flames from a relief pressure gauge, but the tank did not explode, he said.

Camp Cody, a nearly 100-acre coed summer camp, offers year-round activities and an array of buildings, including a large office building with a camp store and library; a huge gymnasium with stage and weights room; a spacious dining room; a fully functional kitchen; a large all-camp lodge; a staff lounge; a fully equipped medical infirmary; a laundry building; a photography building; a model rocketry building; an arts and crafts building; a bike shop; a computer/newspaper room; a nature center; a large shower house in addition to showers in many cabins; a fully equipped maintenance building; and assorted storage buildings.