By KRISTA MARRS

Staff Writer

LACONIA — Members of two families living in an apartment building on Messer Street have been displaced following a grease fire in the kitchen of the lower unit Thursday evening.

The report of a working building fire was made to the fire department around 6:45 p.m. at 43 Messer St., said Capt. Bob Landry, who said he immediately called for a first-alarm building fire upon arriving to the scene.

Once the fire was extinguished, Landry said he canceled the first alarm status.

Landry said an occupant in the first level apartment unit was cooking on a stove when a grease fire broke out. He said the pan that was on fire was put in the sink in hopes of extinguishing. However, he said, the flames spread.

Although unable to give an estimate on the damage in terms of dollar amounts, Landry said there was extensive fire damage to the kitchen with smoke and water damage on the first and second floors of the building.

"There is considerable damage in the kitchen," said Landry.

The tenants living on both the first and second floors, which Landry said was four or five people, were displaced Thursday.

Landry said while the people living in the second-floor unit could be back into their place in about a week following some cleaning up, the residents in the unit where the fire started will need to do some remodeling to repair the damage. He said it could take a few weeks or even one month.

No one was injured in the fire but one person was checked at the scene by medical personnel for smoke inhalation. Landry said the person was OK and was not transported to the hospital.

Three Laconia fire engines, two ladder trucks and an ambulance responded to the scene along with 15 firefighters.

Landry said the tenants were lucky that nobody was burned.