3-alarm fire destroys lakefront residence

LACONIA — A seasonal lakeside residence was destroyed in a three-alarm fire Saturday evening.

The fire was reported at about 6:15 p.m. in a single-story dwelling at 93 Eastman Shore Road South, on the shore of Lake Winnisquam. The number of calls reporting the fire to the Lakes Region Mutual Aid dispatch center prompted a second alarm for additional firefighters and equipment even before the first firefighters arrived on the scene.

The plume of black smoke could be seen for miles.

The fire eventually went to three alarms.

No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, according to Fire Chief Kirk Beattie.

When the first firefighters arrived on the scene the house was fully ablaze and beginning to collapse, Beattie said, and the fire was extending to the brush around the house as well as a boat on a trailer.

There were no injuries reported. Beattie estimated the damage at $100,000, and deemed the building a total loss.

The investigation into the fire is continuing, but Beattie said the fire is not considered to be suspicious.

Mutual aid from Gilford, Belmont, Meredith, Holderness, and Tilton Northfield Fire Departments assisted at the scene. Franklin, Barnstead, Center Harbor, and Meredith EMS provided coverage in the city.

Laconia Police, Laconia DPW and Eversource also assisted Laconia Fire at the scene.

It was the second multiple-alarm building fire in the city in three days. On Wednesday a two-alarm fire damaged a duplex on Highland Street. An 89-year-old woman died as a result of smoke inhalation in that fire.