Fire at the Naswa Resort damages guest room

By GAIL OBER, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — An overheated electrical outlet into which an air conditioner was plugged caused a fire that brought Laconia fire crews to the Naswa Resort Monday around 5 p.m.

A single first-floor unit on the land side of the property sustained serious damage, while the unit above it and the one to its side had some smoke damage.

Chief Ken Erickson said that three of the hotel's employees saw the smoke and opened the door, giving the fire the oxygen it needed to blow out the window. He said the three of the them emptied three full-sized fire extinguishers into the room, knocking down the bulk of the fire.

He said on-duty crews from the Weirs Station arrived by that time and extinguished the rest of the fire and overhauled the room. Crews from Gilford and Belmont covered the Laconia stations.

Erickson said no one was injured and, but for the work of the three employees, the blaze could easily have spread to the upper units.

He said the owner, Cynthia Makris, told him that guests in the two affected rooms would be relocated for the evening.

Deputy Fire Chief Kirk Beattie examines the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a room at the Naswa Resort on Monday at 5 p.m. (Gail Ober/Laconia Daily Sun)