Staff Writer

BELMONT -- Louis and Patricia Guevin lost more than just a business on Tuesday when a six-alarm fire tore through the plaza that contained their Country Tyme Antiques & Collectibles.

The blaze consumed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of irreplaceable consignments owned by dozens of collectors. It also cost them part of their family’s history, as everything from pictures and home movies were destroyed.

"The worst thing is losing all the family photos ... it’s 35 years of marriage, movies of the kids when they were just born..." said Louis Guevin, fighting back tears.

Patricia Guevin buried her head in her husband’s chest as the two watched the fast-moving fire barrel through the plaza at 223 Daniel Webster Highway. The blaze consumed their store and five other businesses.

For the past five years the building had been the home of their antiques consignment business. But the pain of losing the business was even the more difficult to stomach because the building also was being used to store many of the couple’s personal and most cherished family belongings.

Louis Guevin explained that, when they moved from Meredith to Laconia in April, they temporarily stored many of their personal items in the upper portion of the shop. His son was storing two motorcycles in the lower portion of the building.

The fire left little hope that anything would be left, he said.

Guevin said the loss of the store was a huge blow impacting many others beyond his family, as he sold items for several collectors who could never get their items back.

"We are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars in there from 75 to 80 collectors," said Guevin who, along with his wife, had been collecting for more than 20 years.

The owner said items in the store ranged from small pieces of jewelry to large pieces of furniture. He said many of the pieces had were 100-years-old or older.

"You name it, it was in there," he said.

One thing that all the items had in common is that they were irreplaceable, he said.

"You had people in there who specialized in items from the Civil War period ... it’s all gone. What can you do?" he said.