Staff Writer

LACONIA — Rescue workers from throughout the region responded to a three-alarm fire at 171 Pine Street Extension just before 9 p.m. on Sunday. Smoke billowed from the two-story residence of Lou and Diane Gorowitz, who were away from the home at the time of the fire.

Authorities say the fire originated in the basement of the home.

Firefighters battled the flames for several hours, responding from Laconia, Gilford, Belmont, Meredith, Winnisquam and Tilton.

Homeowner Lou Gorowitz said the family had not been living at the residence for more than a week due to a broken furnace that had left the family without heat and hot water.

"We were in the process of getting it fixed," said Gorowitz, noting that the pipes leading to the basement furnace had frozen in recent weeks. Gorowitz and his family had been staying in a nearby hotel for the past several days while plumbers worked to repair the furnace.

The fire quickly moved up through the multi-story home, and was most apparent in the eaves of the home.

Neighbor Traci Mahoney said she told her mother to call 911 after she began to smell the flames. "I was sitting in my room and I could just smell something funny," she said.

"At first you couldn’t even see the house because there was so much smoke," said Kay Mahoney.

By 9:30 p.m., flames on the second floor of the home became so severe that firefighters were ordered out of the building and the crews used a chainsaw to open part of the second floor. As a result, flames poured from the side of the house and teams on ladders poured water into the flames.

Nearby residential streets were closed off for several hours, preventing residents from entering or leaving the neighborhood. Several pumper trucks with extra water remained on the scene just in case.

Laconia Fire Chief Ken Erickson was unable to officially determine the cause of the fire Sunday night, but Gorowitz was certain that it began as a result of the broken furnace.

Gorowitz said he had seen two Kerosene heaters left in the basement, near the furnace, and one upstairs in the living room. "That probably didn’t help anything," he said.

Gorowitz and his family decided to leave the home temporarily after one of the pipes exploded in front of their young son and the furnace began to leak. "They were trying to thaw out the pipes, but we realized there was a crack after it all started to leak out again," he said.

Gorowitz said the hardest part about the fire was to explain to his two young sons what had happened. "They were crying and screaming ‘We don’t have anywhere to live,’ when I told them," said Gorowitz, clearly shaken. "We didn’t have time to get anything out except for what we had with us in the hotel," he added. "We also had a brand new bike in there for my son."

Gorowitz, who has been in the hospital for most of the past year, said he had been hoping to move his family back into the home by Tuesday. "It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen," he said, frustrated. "We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do," he said.

There were no reported injuries as a result of the fire, which will remain under investigation.