1 person injured in Lakeshore Park fire that caused $200K in damage

GILFORD — A Lakeshore Park resident experienced minor head and face after they tried to reenter a camp property on fire on Sunday.

Fire Chief Steve Carrier said the structure fire was on Old Rail Road, in Lakeshore Park, a mobile home park off Lake Shore Road. Gilford and Laconia companies were called to a fire at the residence at 11:42 a.m. on April 12, and crews were on scene 10 minutes later.

Companies were initially told the building might be occupied, and there was smoke and flames visible. When cress arrived, they found the owner was out of the home.

“The owner of the building was outside raking leaves when he noticed smoke,” Carrier said. “When the first engine arrived, they confirmed that nobody was inside."

Units on the scene reported smoke from the 1.5-story building. Carrier said the mobile home was renovated into a larger camp with additions to the original structure, as well as a full basement underneath.

Companies called for additional crews, bringing in firefighters from Gilford, Meredith, and Alton. Carrier said they had plenty of water onsite, as Gilford had their engine and tanker, and another engine from the Weirs Beach station was also on the scene.

There was extensive damage, estimated to be at least $200,000. Carrier said it will likely be a total loss. The home is uninhabitable, and the occupants are staying with family nearby.

“There was a lot of damage to the kitchen and living room area, and heat and smoke damage throughout,” Carrier said.

Lakeshore Park is densely populated, and much of the surrounding area is wooded. Carrier said it was fortunate the camp was near the road, and a prevailing wind sent smoke away from another camp, only about 10 feet away.

“We were pretty lucky to contain it, because he was right on the road, and there was really only that one building near him,” Carrier said. “And that wasn’t impacted at all.”

Carrier said the owner was injured when he, for reasons unknown, tried to go back into the burning structure. He refused treatment at the scene, and was not taken to the hospital. He later had relatives bring him to Concord Hospital-Laconia, to be evaluated.

“As tempting as it is, once a fire is discovered, people should leave the building and never go back in,” Carrier wrote in a media release. “It is easy to underestimate the heat and toxicity of the fire and smoke.”

No other injuries or damage to structures, or vehicles, were reported.

In all there were three engines, a tanker, a utility, and two command vehicles at the scene from Gilford. There were also engines from Alton, Belmont, Laconia and Meredith, and engines from Sanbornton and Tilton-Northfield covered the Gilford Fire Station. Gilford Police also responded to the scene.

The fire was under control at 12:13 p.m. Firefighters from Gilford also responded to a brush fire in Belmont around 1:30 p.m. Crews were back in service at 2 p.m.

Carrier said the fire is under investigation, as there was no obvious cause, but he does not think it appears to be suspicious.

“We are not positive on the cause yet,” Carrier said on Monday morning. “We definitely believe it was accidental, and there was no evidence to believe it was anything but.”