NH News Briefs 1-2-2026

One person is dead, another hospitalized, and dozens displaced after a Manchester apartment fire in Manchester this week. Just after 12:30 Wednesday morning, crews responded to the fire at the Executive Manor apartments on Union Street. The man who was killed in the fire has not been identified and the child who was injured remains in critical condition. A full investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

One person is dead after a home fire in Meredith New Year’s Eve. Police responded to the home on Old Center Harbor Road for a welfare check around 6:45 Wednesday night. When officers arrived, they found smoke coming from the home and a man unresponsive on the first floor. The fire reportedly started in the basement and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. No official cause of death has been determined yet.

Officials across the state are warning residents to be cautious when riding snowmobiles after two recent crashes. A woman was injured after an accident in Stratford last week. Last weekend a man was hurt when he crashed his snowmobile in Errol. Police say inexperience was a factor in at least one of those crashes and urge anyone planning on riding a snowmobile to have proper training.

Annual vehicle inspections are a thing of the past in New Hampshire. As of the first of the year, the state has done away with the 50-dollar inspections for all New Hampshire drivers. State Republicans pushed for the change after the realization that the cost increase in New Hampshire was more than double the cost in neighboring Maine. Rochester Republican lawmaker Sam Farrington called the inspections a “scam.”