Staff Writer

LACONIA — Four people are uninjured but temporarily homeless after a pre-dawn, two-alarm fire caused an estimated $60,000 damage to a South End residence today.

Reported shortly before 5:30 a.m., the fire at 66 Province St. is believed to be accidental and appears to have started in a second-floor, front bedroom of the rambling, 2½-story, 3,500-square-foot structure, said Laconia Fire Chief Ken Erickson.

The occupant of the bedroom observed the fire and attempted to put it out with a jug full of water, but when that failed she ran outside to safety and was taken in by neighbors on Edwards Street, added Erickson.

The chief said that the fire damage was confined mainly to the second floor of the nearly 100-year-old house which, according to city tax records, is owned by William L. Thompson and most recently was assessed at $192,900.

Laconia Fire Lt. Mike Shastany was first to arrive at the scene and, due to what he described as heavy smoke coming from the house, he immediately called in a second alarm which summoned additional fire units from Belmont, Winnisquam and Meredith to join those from Laconia and Gilford. The Tilton-Northfield Fire Department also responded.

Erickson said that despite the sub-zero temperatures this morning which made their work "10 times more difficult" — the Laconia Savings Bank thermometer on Pleasant Street displayed a minus-3 degrees at around 6 a.m. — firefighters caught a break in that the open construction of the house helped them access the building and extinguish the fire.

Firefighters were able to come in through the front door, go up the broad, main staircase and fight the fire on the second floor which Erickson said had begun to spread backward into the rest of the structure.