The building that housed his business office and garage has been condemned following a fire early Tuesday morning.

But for Chuck Gulbicki, the "neighborhood garage" that he and his predecessors helped create lives on in the form of photos rescued by firefighters and in the strong desire, said Gulbicki Tuesday evening, to quickly bring his towing and auto maintenance business back to life.

"I just want to go in and clean it up and rebuild," said Gulbicki, who first leased what is now his property from the late Joe DePine in 1986 and bought it from his family in 1992.

Headed south toward Laconia, Gulbicki's is located just below the Weirs Channel Bridge on the east side of Weirs Boulevard. It is the successor to DePine's own longtime service station, which Gulbicki believes may have existed there for some 40 years before he leased it from DePine and put his own name on it.

That business went up in flames in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday.

At about 4:35 a.m., just up the street at the Weirs Station, Fire Lt. Chris Shipp detected the distinct smell of a building burning and reported it, said Fire Chief Ken Erickson. Shipp and the Weirs crew went looking for the source of the smoke and immediately came upon Gulbicki's.

A first-alarm was sounded and a three-man team began attacking the fire, which Erickson believes was accidental and electrical in nature and that began in the attic above the office space.

The team had to pull back and out when the office ceiling collapsed on top of them. Firefighters had to battle the blaze from the exterior and took about an hour, said Erickson.

Several firefighters suffered minor slip-related injuries, the chief added, but none of the injuries required hospitalization.

Erickson estimated that the fire caused $130,000 in damage and speculated that Gulbicki's insurance carrier would order the building be razed.

None of Gulbicki's three tow vehicles nor any vehicles parked on the property were damaged. The towing business itself was only briefly affected.

ALAN MACRAE/FOR THE CITIZEN HOT SMOKE and steam belch from a second-story window at Gulbicki's Towing Service in the Weirs as Laconia firefighter Deb Black pours in water to douse the flames of a first alarm fire that gutted the Weirs Beach business early Tuesday morning. Click here to view Foster's prints for sale

Gulbicki has a trailer for temporary office space and a dumpster is standing by to receive the remains of the damaged building as soon as insurance adjusters give the OK for the cleanup to begin.

Gulbicki said that, thanks to the firefighters, he will continue to have visual reminders of his 22 years in Laconia, which will soon adorn the walls of his rebuilt business.

"Everything is fine, all my trucks. It's just that the inside it totaled."

Over the years, the inside was a place where "everybody would come down and talk," said Gulbicki.

It was tough to see the fire-damaged building, he said, but getting his photos back softened the blow.

"The chief put two guys on it to get the pictures out. He helped me today because he knew I loved my pictures and they saved most of them."

Gulbicki thanked the emergency responders who fought the fire at his business as well as the many friends who showed up during the day to offer their support.

"Everybody's been great," said Gulbicki.