No injuries in Center Harbor house fire on Tuesday

CENTER HARBOR — A fire heavily damaged a Center Harbor home Tuesday afternoon.

The fire department was notified at 12:16 p.m. that a house on Center Harbor Neck Road in the area of Anton Road was on fire. The first firefighters arrived on the scene six minutes later and immediately summoned personnel and firefighter apparatus from several area departments, Fire Chief Tyler Driscoll said.

He said the occupants of the house were alerted to the fire by neighbors knocking on the door.

“The occupants were in a part of the house away from where the fire was burning,” Driscoll said, explaining why the occupants were not immediately aware of the fire. He estimated the house was 2,500 square feet in size.

There were no injuries because of the fire, the chief said.

A section of the house that contained the kitchen, laundry room, a workshop and storage space received extensive fire damage. In addition, the fire reached into the house’s second story. The rest of the dwelling suffered smoke damage, the chief said.

“The firefighters made an aggressive attack and stopped the fire before getting into the rest of the house,” Driscoll said.

Crews were able to bring the fire under control in about 40 minutes, he said. The property was turned over to the homeowner at about 4:45 p.m.

Six neighboring departments — Meredith, Moultonborough, Sandwich, Holderness, Laconia and New Hampton — sent crews to assist Center Harbor firefighters in battling the blaze. A unit from the Ashland Fire Department provided coverage at the Center Harbor station.

Driscoll said he was very grateful for the help from the mutual-aid companies, as well as the assistance from the Center Harbor Police and Public Works departments, the Moultonborough Police Department and the Red Cross, which was on scene to provide assistance to the home’s occupants.