Firefighters' quick response saves homes on Gilford Ave Thursday night

LACONIA — The quick response of nearby firefighters saved several apartment buildings from fire after a blaze in a garage erupted at a Gilford Avenue property Thursday night. 

Firefighters were dispatched to a reported building fire at 41 Gilford Ave. at 6:10 p.m. on Dec. 4, and, because many of them were at the Laconia Community Center participating in the Christmas Village event, arrived at the scene just two minutes later.

The garage was a total loss — it burned to ashes — and three motorcycles and one passenger car burned, too. The neighboring apartment buildings, while damaged on their exteriors and windows, did not displace residents. No civilians or firefighters were injured on Thursday night. 

“I can’t stress enough how awesome those first arriving crews did,” Fire Chief Tim Joubert said at the scene on Friday morning. “This would have been Nashua if they all got going.”

His reference is to a large-scale fire on Ash and Vine streets in Nashua on Tuesday. That fire started on the exterior porch of a structure on Ash, and quickly spread to a residence on Vine. Nearby structures sustained damage due to radiant heat. Five occupants were injured, as was a Nashua firefighter, according to Nashua Fire Rescue.

The apartment buildings on Gilford Avenue are constructed with what's called "balloon framing," where wall studs run continuously from the foundation to the roof. That sort of building construction is particularly susceptible to the rapid spread of smoke and fire between floors. 

The cause of the Thursday night fire is under investigation. The garage was wired for electrical, but did not have heat. 

Upon arrival, firefighters discovered a large, detached two-car garage fire fully involved. The fire extended into three adjacent apartment buildings. Winds were severe Thursday night, howling somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 mph, so firefighters called for backup due to high winds, the size of the fire, and its proximity to nearby structures.

Firefighters attacked the visible fire in the garage aggressively, and quickly began protecting the other buildings. Mutual aid companies arrived at the scene — by 6:40 p.m., there were eight engines and an ambulance there — and assisted with the fire attack.

Crews deployed multiple hose lines and extinguished the fire on the exteriors of three apartment buildings, helped residents evacuate. All 10 of Laconia’s on-duty firefighters responded to the fire, and an additional nine off-duty firefighters did, too.

Strong winds are bad business for the fire department — winds feed fire, and can dictate its speed and direction. Joubert said Friday they were fortunate that winds blew in the direction they did, because otherwise, conditions would have increased radiant heat against adjacent buildings.

“This was a great stop,” Fire Lt. John Paul Hobby said according to a press release Friday morning. “We were fortunate not to have any additional calls at the same time. Having all 10 of our on-duty personnel and multiple off-duty at the scene allowed us to minimize damage to the other buildings.”

Firefighters performed an extensive overhaul to confirm the garage, though heavily damaged, was fully extinguished, and that no hot spots remained in other buildings. Laconia crews and their mutual aid partners pulled off siding, roofing and walls to make their confirmation.

Strong winds aside, firefighters also battled sub-freezing conditions. Fire hydrant caps, for example, were frozen, though the water in the hydrants wasn’t. It took a long time for firefighters to get the caps off, but as luck would have it, firefighters happened to have been shoveling hydrants all day beforehand.

“The amazing effort by everyone helped us save the three apartment buildings and allowed the residents to return to their homes with minimal interruption,” firefighter Brandon Quint said, according to the media release.

Now, city firefighters will begin their initial investigation into the point of origin and cause of the fire. The properties have been turned back over to their owners, and the insurance process will likely begin. 

Frank Pasquarello owns 64 Girard St., and rents it out. A large, white colonial, the building sustained exterior damage on Thursday night. He was working with an insurance company on Friday. 

“It melted all of my siding, damaged the roof and broke eight windows,” Pasquarello said Friday morning. 

On Thursday night, Pasquarello had his tenants stay in his home on Weirs Boulevard. They’re able to return to Girard Street on Friday afternoon. 

“The fire department did a great job, that wind was howling,” he said. “These guys were unbelievable.” 

“The big thing is that nobody is injured.”

Laconia companies, along with Belmont, Franklin, Gilford, Meredith, Sanbornton and Tilton-Northfield fire departments, Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid, Laconia police and public works, and Eversource assisted at the scene. Departments from Center Harbor, Gilmanton, Loudon, Meredith and New Hampton covered the fire stations in case of other calls.

Christina Resiter lives at 45 Gilford Ave., and said Friday the garage where the fire started is hers. She heard what sounded like fireworks and yelling outside her house. Realizing it was her lot where the fire was located, she got her children and dogs out the front door.

“The garage was fully engulfed when we got outside,” Resiter wrote on Friday morning. “My vehicle caught fire. Everything is a total loss.

“All of our neighbors were amazing to everyone,” Resiter wrote, noting they offered places to keep warm, drinks and rides if needed. “The firefighters did a great job knocking it down.”