A six-alarm fire that apparently started in an oven destroyed an apartment building and left six families homeless late Thursday night.

Investigators from the town's fire and police departments spent most of the day Friday at Squam Meadows Apartments at 369 Route 3 in Holderness. Foul play was ruled out as a cause. According to Fire Chief Eleanor Mardin, the fire was believed to be started in a faulty oven. Mardin said a tenant put the oven on the clean setting and left the premises. Mardin noted that upon investigation it was found that the stove was very clean.

A caller contacted Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid dispatch at about 11:25 p.m. saying the building was on fire. Residents of the six-unit apartment building were sent into the frigid, windy night air shortly before midnight when a fast-moving blaze broke out in one apartment and quickly raced through the structure, authorities said.

A firefighter arriving at the scene called for a third alarm. At least two ladder trucks were called to the scene. Later, a fifth alarm was called to summon additional water tankers from area departments to help shuttle water to the scene, and the fire eventually went to a sixth alarm as the blaze quickly escalated, fanned by gusty winds, and ultimately consumed the complex.

Firefighters worked hard to contain the blaze and keep it from spreading to an adjacent apartment complex. At the scene near midnight, little could be seen other than emergency lights through the haze of white smoke hovering over a mile stretch of Route 3 and 25.

Neighbors and residents were in shock as the building burned.

"It's completely gone," said Tanya Thibeault, a tenant in the complex adjacent to the building that burned.

Thibeault, who lives with her two children, was awakened by a neighbor who frantically banged on her door, screaming, "my apartment is on fire!"

Immediately rising to her feet, Thibeault's initial concern was that her building was ablaze, so she hurried her children outside.

What she found instead was the complex next door engulfed in smoke and flames.

Thibeault's sister lived in the building that was on fire and could only stand by in the dead of night as the building collapsed in on itself. Thibeault's daughter, Schiloe, was visibly shaken by the ordeal.

Firefighters remained on the scene battling the blaze more than two hours, forced to draw water from all the surrounding bodies of water in the area and working in rotating crews. The fire was deemed under control at 2:17 a.m.

Other residents of apartments were still on the scene Friday morning.

Judy Shaw had been coming home from a night out with her boyfriend when they were stopped several hundred feet from the apartment building by a line of fire trucks and a police cruiser.

"It's definitely gone. Having all your belongings there, I mean ...," said Shaw, who then stopped and said no more.

The building's owner, Sharen Fuller, also was present at the scene. After being called by one of her tenants, Fuller made her way to the scene from Alton, camping out behind a police barricade, waiting for any word.

Fuller has owned the 1950s-era apartment structure for more than 20 years. While the building was insured, all she could do was hope that the six families living there were safe.

In addition to Holderness, departments responding included Center Harbor, Meredith, Ashland, Plymouth, Sandwich, Moultonborough, Campton-Thornton, Gilford, Belmont, Tilton-Northfield, Bristol, Rumney, Sanbornton, and Gilmanton. The sixth alarm brought in additional units from Hebron, Alton, Hill, and Wentworth. New Hampton, Laconia, Rumney, and Alton provided cover trucks

There were initial reports that a tenant was missing from the scene. It was later found that the tenant was a young adult male who left that night for Manchester. The tenant was eventually tracked down by authorities, who contacted his girlfriend.

Mardin said that throughout the day on Monday the Holderness Fire Department helped the tenants search for belongings. She explained that the fire spread so quickly that many exited the house without taking car keys and other essential items. Mardin noted that she had not slept since the night before, in an attempt to find the cause of the fire and help the tenants.

The Plymouth Area Disaster Action Team from the Granite Chapter of the American Red Cross opened a service center at 9 a.m. Friday to assist families who were devastated by the blaze. Dale St. Laurent, Emergency Services Director of the Granite Chapter of Red Cross, said that by approximately 1 p.m. the service center was closed because tenants had been served efficiently throughout the morning.

He said that while Red Cross will help victims find temporary housing, it was not needed with the victims staying in a variety of locations such as friends, family or hotels around the area.

Throughout the morning the Disaster Action Team helped the victims by giving them food, clothing and other items useful in this dire situation.

"The good thing is that they all have a place to stay for now," said St. Laurent.

St. Laurent said that anyone willing to offer long-term housing to call the Holderness Town Administrator at 968-2145.

Those wishing to assist the people affected by the fire may also contact the Granite Chapter at 1-800-464-6692, or send a contribution to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, Granite Chapter, 2 Maitland St., Concord, NH 03301.