The call was received at 2:50 in the morning. On Right Way Path, there is an outside fire. That’s about as ambiguous as emergency calls get, and what Laconia Fire crews discovered upon arrival was anything but ambiguous. Already, half of a three-story abandoned building was destroyed, with flames shooting through windows and pouring from the roof as if something had deliberately caught fire. In the middle of the night, the former Laconia State School, a location with a convoluted past, was ablaze.
That timing is a little unsettling. Not only was it dark, but it was unique in that it was a huge building without electricity or utilities that was somehow still on fire. When questioned about the reason, Louis Loutrel, Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention, didn’t hold back. “It is suspicious,” he stated bluntly. A structure without electricity, no people, and no visible source of ignition. the middle of the night. A fire hose is unable to address the questions raised by that combination.
The building’s water supply was a problem in and of itself. Before they could launch a serious offensive against the fire, crews had to run 1,700 feet of supply hose to increase pressure through multiple engines from the closest supply, a pressurized hydrant close to Right Way Path’s entrance. The majority of the heavy lifting was done by Ladder 1, and in some way, the firefighters’ coordination and push prevented the fire from spreading to nearby structures or surrounding brush. It’s the kind of subtle operational success that ought to be honored but is rarely.
There was a response from eight fire departments. In the early hours of the morning, Belmont, Franklin, Gilford, Meredith, Sanbornton, Tilton-Northfield, and Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid showed up for a building that, in theory, was empty. Chris Griffin, a firefighter, attributed the rapid stabilization of the situation to precisely that coordination. The machine functioned. However, it didn’t feel like much of a victory as I stood close to the scene at around ten in the morning, with smoke still clearly rising above the tree line.
The whole roof had collapsed by morning. As you approached the building from Right Way Path, which is next to the Robbie Mills Sports Complex, you could smell it before you even saw the building. Hours after crews had declared it under control, heavy timber continued to radiate heat as debris smoldered inside the brick shell. Loutrel pointed to the fallen flooring while standing close to Chief Tim Joubert, City Manager Kirk Beattie, and a Spears Brothers Building Wreckage representative. “Pretty much the entire inside of that brick shell is destroyed,” he stated. They were already organizing a wrecking crew. For the time being, any investigation inside the structure was practically impossible due to the instability and the failure of the support beams.
The irony that permeates everything is difficult to ignore. On the same weekend that brought about 300,000 motorcyclists to Laconia for the 103rd annual Bike Week, which organizers claim is the oldest motorcycle rally in the world, a building with a very different piece of local history subtly burned to its frame. Police tape and fire marshals are being drawn to one event, while people are celebrating at another. Laconia is simultaneously focusing on two entirely different types of attention.
It involves the Office of the New Hampshire Fire Marshal. The cause is still unknown. Loutrel admitted that it is currently challenging to even determine the fire’s origin because access is risky due to the instability of what is left. It’s still unclear if answers will be provided promptly or at all. Whatever transpired on Right Way Path early on Sunday morning was obviously not an accident. Furthermore, nothing can be inferred from the brick shell that was left standing, with smoke still curling from its collapsed interior.
