New Sanbornton residents victims of house fire

A Florida family who moved to the Lakes Region just seven months ago after suffering through a series of serious financial difficulties has been dealt a fresh blow of trouble.

Ricardo “Ricky” and Loraine Martinez and their four children, ages between 6-and-13-years-old, were living in a wooden two-story Cape-style home at 220 Skyline Drive until they were forced out yesterday after a one-alarm fire seriously damaged the structure.

Fire Chief John DeSilva said the building suffered significant smoke and fire damage to the first floor and in the basement, and some damage to the second floor. As of 8:40 last night, he said the cause of the fire was still unknown but he expected he, other members of the Sanbornton Fire Department and a representative of the NH State Fire Marshal’s office would be at the scene for several more hours gathering information to help in the investigation.

DeSilva said initial indications were that the blaze started in the basement. He said Loraine Martinez, who is a food service worker with the Winnisquam Regional School District (WRSD), was at home around 3:30 p.m. when the fire apparently began. “She smelled smoke and began to look around,” the chief reported.

When the woman looked in the basement she saw thick smoke, he explained. “Her oldest daughter was just coming home, getting off the school bus. She opened the door and yelled for her to go to a neighbor’s house to call 911.”

Mrs. Martinez was able to escape without harm and a family pet cat was recovered unharmed by the Sanbornton Police Department, DeSilva said.

The chief noted that he and the department’s other full-time EMT/firefighter were “out the door” of the central fire station within moments of the initial emergency call from Lakes Region Mutual Aid Associations’ call, but two of the department’s call-firefighters living in the neighborhood were at the Martinez home even sooner — within three minutes. “They reported heavy smoke coming from the building,” the chief said.

Sanbornton’s engine arrived within about 10 minutes of the first emergency call and a Belmont Fire Department apparatus, which is automatically sent to any structure fires in the shorefront neighborhood, came about two minutes later, DeSilva said.

The firefighters found heavy fire and smoke in the basement and first floor areas. They battled the fire in the basement first then attacked it on the first floor.

At one point a Mutual Aid crew had to back out of an area of the first floor when they felt the structure growing “spongy” beneath their feet, the chief said. Mutual Aid crews from the Laconia Fire Department went to the basement, where the fire had re-ignited, and brought the area under control before work continued on the first floor. (Gilford Fire Department workers also assisted on the scene, DeSilva said.)

Kristina Martinez, Ricky’s sister who lives in Massachusetts, said she is concerned about her brother’s family.

She said the majority of their family lives in Florida. “He was a real estate broker until the market crashed down there,” she said. “They lost their house, they got foreclosed on — they lost everything because he couldn’t get a job anywhere. Things are very bad there.”

The family had just enough money to come up to New Hampshire, where Ricky had a friend, and rent the Skyline Drive home. The couple both got jobs in the local school district, where Ricky works as a maintenance man. He was hoping to eventually get a New Hampshire real estate license, his sister added.

DeSilva said the former Martinez home is not habitable at this time but it could be repaired in the future. He said officials with the Red Cross had provided temporary shelter for the Martinez family last night.