Home security camera said to have limited fire damage to home

LACONIA — A home security system may have saved a local home from suffering much more serious damage in a fire Tuesday morning, the Fire Department reported.

The Fire Department was dispatched just before 6 a.m. to a home at 131 Eastman Shore Road North, close to Lake Winnisquam.

The caller told 9-1-1 she was alerted by a home security system. With a connection to a security camera inside the house the woman could see smoke filling the building.

The call from the homeowner, who was at another location, was the only call reporting the fire, Fire Chief Kirk Beattie said in a news release.

When personnel and equipment from Central Station arrived on the scene they saw heavy smoke coming from the two-story, single-family residence. A second alarm was sounded, bringing in off-duty personnel and mutual aid companies to the scene and to cover Laconia fire stations.

The nearest fire hydrant to the house is located 1½ miles away, at North Main and Elm streets.

There was fire in the first-floor hallway/kitchen area, when the first firefighters entered the dwelling. In addition, the house was filled with smoke. Crews were able to extinguish the fire quickly. But firefighters remained on the scene checking for extension, and extinguishing fire in the ceiling and walls.

Beattie said the cause of the fire was a malfunctioning oil-fired boiler unit in the basement. Damage is estimated at $75,000.

The fire was under control at 6:29 a.m. However, some companies remained on the scene for another five hours.

It was the third second-alarm fire in the city in the past 10 days, Beattie noted.

Assisting Laconia fire crews at the scene were Laconia Police Department, Gilford, Meredith, Belmont, and Holderness fire departments. Tilton-Northfield, and Center Harbor fire departments, as well as Meredith EMS provided station coverage.