NH News Briefs 8-7-2026

A house in Belmont is in ruins after a fire on Thursday. According to fire officials, there was an explosion at the house on Sunset Drive next to Lake Winnisquam. The entire left side of the home collapsed and one person was taken away in an ambulance. The extent of their injuries haven’t been shared. There’s no word on what started the fire.

Federal regulators are formally proposing to approve New Hampshire’s rollback of its vehicle inspection program. The Environmental Protection Agency previously noted its intention to approve the request, which was submitted in December. Police stopped enforcing the program in February, even though the government hasn’t formally approved the termination of inspections. This comes from two separate ongoing lawsuits looking to have the inspection program reinstated.

The Seacoast real estate market isn’t slowing down. For the second time this year, a record number of homes were sold for over one-million-dollars. The Seacoast Board of Realtors said 38 homes were sold for over one-million-dollars just last month. The biggest sale was a 16-million-dollar house in North Hampton. Overall, 94 homes were sold on the Seacoast for the month.

According to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, a former New Hampshire State Police Trooper has pleaded guilty to a charge of making a false report to law enforcement.  Prosecutors say the former trooper, James Lamoureux, placed a GPS tracking device on a car regularly used by his then-girlfriend and lied to the Keene Police Department after she confronted him about it.  James Lamoureux is now banned from seeking future employment as a law enforcement officer. As part of a plea deal, Lamoureux’s six-month sentence has been suspended for two years.