Sunday night fire on Gilford Ave. a close call, says fire official

LACONIA — A nighttime fire that damaged the exterior of a Gilford Avenue home Sunday could have been devastating if the fire had burned unchecked for much longer, according to a fire department official.

The fire was discovered shortly before 3:42 a.m. on Sunday when an occupant of the house at 129 Gilford Ave. awoke and saw a reddish glow through a window. They saw the fire and called 911, Assistant Fire Chief Jay Ellingson said Tuesday.

The fire started in an enclosure for trash and recyclables on the side of the house’s detached garage. From there the fire spread to the garage itself. Next, the radiant heat from the expanding fire ignited siding on the home's exterior, Ellingson explained.

“It was a very, very close call,” he said. “Within a few more minutes it would have spread into the house.”

Firefighters and equipment from Laconia, Gilford and Belmont went to the scene. Ellingson said the homeowner was spraying water from a garden hose in an effort to douse the fire burning on the outside of the house when the first crews arrived. Flames were coming out the windows of the garage, he said.

All three of the home’s occupants managed to escape the dwelling unharmed.

Firefighters were able to largely contain the fire within 10 minutes. However, a handful of firefighters and a truck remained until about 9:15 a.m., checking for smoldering debris and checking for hot spots.

Ellingson said the garage was heavily damaged and he doubted the structure was salvageable. He estimated damage to the house itself in the “tens of thousands of dollars.” In addition to destroying the siding on the house closest to the garage, the flames caused some of the windows in the house to break from the heat.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined, but Ellingson said the fire is not being considered suspicious.

The fire is being investigated by the state Fire Marshal’s Office.