One Dead in Three-Alarm New Hampshire Fire

GOFFSTOWN, N.H. -- A man identified by family members as Roger Audet Sr. died in a three-alarm blaze Tuesday morning on Church Street that also left four other families homeless.

Roger Audet Jr. owns the four-unit building where his father, Audet Sr., lived in a lower apartment.

"We're not ready to talk yet," he said Tuesday night before he and another man began setting up a tent near the burned carport at the white apartment building.

Audet Jr.'s girlfriend, Mabry Petrowicz, said family members have been at the building since Tuesday morning. She said someone was planning to stay in the tent overnight because the family was concerned about potential looters. A large chest of drawers, scorched black in some spots, sat atop the roof of the carport.

"We're all wet and tired," she said as Tuesday's rain continued to fall.

Petrowicz said she and Audet Jr. used to live in the building before moving to Derry.

She said Audet Sr.'s wife, Elizabeth, also recently died after battling cancer.

Another son traveled from Florida and a daughter came up from New Jersey Tuesday after learning of Audet Sr.'s death, she said.

"It's been a rough few months," she said.

A woman walking her dog spotted the blaze at approximately 6:30 a.m. at 53 Church St. and immediately went to the fire station, which is just down the street.

Goffstown Fire Chief Richard O'Brien said flames were shooting out the front windows of the man's apartment when firefighters arrived.

O'Brien refused later Tuesday to confirm Audet Sr.'s identity.

He said a state medical examination scheduled for today would confirm identity and the cause of death.

O'Brien said before firefighters arrived, an off-duty Goffstown police officer and one of the building's residents tried to reach the victim, who lived alone in the right side of the four-unit apartment house.

The chief said residents from the other three apartments, which included four families, made it out safely.

Donald Cadorette, who lives across the street at 50 Church St., said he provided the building's occupants and the Audet family with shelter on his enclosed porch during the fire.

"That fire was really roaring," Cadorette said.

Cadorette said he didn't know Audet Sr. well, having only met him once at Elizabeth Audet's wake.

"He never goes out," Cadorette said of Audet Sr. "He never goes anywhere."

With the report that someone was trapped, firefighters made an "aggressive interior attack" to try to rescue the man, O'Brien said.

"It's very unfortunate," he said. "We never want to see something like this. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family."

The blaze went to three alarms and took about three hours to bring under control. About 50 firefighters, some from surrounding areas, battled the fire.

O'Brien said the building featured balloon framing, which created a path in the interior walls for the fire to travel from floor to floor.

According to an online appraisal database, the home was built in 1890.

How the fire began and where it started have yet to be determined, the chief said.

The building is uninhabitable because of smoke and fire damage; O'Brien said the roof collapsed in the back.

Lisa Michaud, spokesman for the American Red Cross, New Hampshire Region, said her agency is assisting four families with financial assistance for lodging, food and clothing.

Copyright 2012 - The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester

McClatchy-Tribune News Service