Staff Writer

» Investigators unsure what caused plaza fire in Belmont
» Mutual aid system had bases covered
» Firefighters battle relentless six-alarm blaze levels plaza building, businesses
» Antique shop owners had items from many lifetimes
» Fire destroys businesses at shopping strip in Belmont
» Click for more fire photos

LAKES REGION — Some local fire departments will be paying out a significant amount of overtime for the six-alarm blaze that leveled six businesses on Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3/11) on Tuesday night.

"Oh yes," said Belmont Firefighter Loring Child about whether responders from the department saw a large amount of overtime Tuesday into Wednesday morning. "Considering they came in at 7 p.m. and weren’t done until 5 o’clock this morning. All the towns got hit in the same way."

Laconia Fire Captain Bob Landry said, "10 guys were paid overtime" for what he called a "very dangerous fire."

Gilford Deputy Fire Chief Jim Hayes reported at Wednesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting that the fire department would be submitting a lengthy overtime bill to the finance director. He advised that an "overtime spike" should be expected in the department’s payroll for the six officers at the scene and three or four covering the station. He told them the town sent two trucks and "a lot of hose."

Barnstead Fire Chief George Krause also assisted with the six-alarm inferno. "I went up, came back, and went up again," he said. He noted a total of seven other firefighters with him. "We didn’t get into overtime, but they were all on the clock," he said about his team. "We’re an on-call department and we only get paid when we’re on the scene of an incident."

The Barnstead crew helped with suppression efforts and in-line pumping, the chief explained, adding that they helped lay out about 2,000 feet of hose. "They pumped right until the afternoon today [Wednesday]. We were one of the last trucks that left. We were initially covering Belmont, and then we moved to scene."

Bristol Fire Department Lieutenant Catherine Pitari said the Bristol fire chief and one other on-call firefighter were on the scene with her until Wednesday morning. She noted that the crew of four that attended the fire did not incur overtime.