Laconia firefighter Mark Miller returns a cat, which he rescued from a building fire Union Avenue, to its owner. Miller found two cats in a first floor apartment while fighting the blaze. (Citizen Photo/Kevin Sperl)

3-alarm Laconia fire leaves dozens homeless

Staff Writer

LACONIA — Almost two dozen people were made homeless on Friday afternoon when a massive, three-alarm fire heavily damaged an apartment building at 230-234 Union Ave.

A cat is believed to have knocked over a candle in a second floor apartment, causing a fire which then spread into the third floor and attic.

Fire officials said they determined 22 people were living in seven of the building’s ten apartments; three other apartments were vacant.

No one was injured, although one tenant was transported to Lakes Region General Hospital for treatment of minor smoke inhalation.

Both the American Red Cross and Salvation Army have stepped forward to provide emergency services for those who were displaced by the fire while Phil Brouillard, who owns the 100-year old building, said he would try to move some of the tenants into other apartment facilities that he also owns.

An inspector from the state Fire Marshal’s Office is working to determine the cause of the blaze, including the possibility that the knocked-over candle was the ignition source, said Laconia Fire Chief Ken Erickson.

"We’re pretty comfortable that it’s looking accidental," Erickson said of the cause of the fire.

Laconia firefighters attacked and knocked down the initial fire on the second floor and were trying to stop its spread to the third, when the flames jumped up into the attic, "and I hate to say it, but there was not enough help in the initial stages and the fire got ahead of us," said Erickson.

All Laconia fire units responded and were eventually supported by those from the Belmont, Winnisquam, Tilton-Northfield, Franklin, Gilford, Meredith, Gilmanton and Holderness departments.

Laconia Code Enforcement Officer Michelle Bonsteel condemned the building and in the evening, workmen were boarding up its windows and doors with plywood.

Erickson said Brouillard has hired a private security company to watch over the building, which, while heavily damaged, could be made habitable.

"There’s no question that the roof is gone and the third floor has heavy damage, but the final decision will be made by the insurance company as to what they want to do with it. Most of second and first floors are structurally sound," said Erickson, "though there’s a lot of water damage."

Friday’s fire nearly completed what a conflagration about 20 years ago began, said retired Laconia Fire Prevention Officer Nat Johnson. He was at the scene along with scores of onlookers who lined the sidewalks in Normandin Square area.

At one time, what is now the parking lot for the apartment building was part of the much-larger Normandin Block, said Johnson, but a fire there in the mid-1980’s destroyed half the structure.

During yesterday’s fire, several tenants, with tears rolling down their cold, rosy-colored cheeks, were huddled together in a nearby parking lot and shied away from the press. Many were left with nothing but the thin clothing they had on their backs. However, several people came out of neighboring apartment buildings and offered jackets and a place to keep warm.

A 16-year-old girl, still in her pajamas, bathrobe and slippers, who was living in one of the apartments at 230-234 Union Avenue with her mother, was crying for her animals. She said it was her cat that knocked over the candle, but luckily she was able to save her pet gerbil.