As inspectors combed the blackened bayside hill, members of a Christian community gave thanks that no greater loss came from the Easter Sunday blaze that leveled 45 summer cottages.

Summer residents had not yet returned to the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center, and Alton's fire chief said the few firefighters hospitalized for smoke inhalation and a minor injury had been released.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire, which consumed one-quarter of the center's cottages and ignited numerous propane tanks. State Fire Marshal William Degnan said the cause did not appear suspicious. More than 200 firefighters responded from as far away as Freedom and Hooksett to the 14-alarm fire, said Alton fire Chief Scott Williams.

The blaze was spurred by 35 mph winds that easily

carried flames the few feet between 45 of the center's oldest cottages. It took six hours from the first report of smoke to bring the fire under control about 10:30 p.m., Williams said.

Many of the friends and neighbors who gathered beyond the yellow tape yesterday had known one another for decades. They showed photos of grandchildren sledding the hill during a February reunion and talked about other fires that have struck the center throughout its 146-year history.

Former resident and board member Ken Thurston said the loss of so many cottages would mean the center might have to cut back on concerts and talks paid for with membership dues. But the most important thing, he said, was that the owners of the cottages were unharmed.

"It's only material, and that can be replaced," he said. "Besides, this place is not about summer so much as it is about learning more about the Lord."

Thurston, 66, looked at the ruins of three cottages he used to own. He stood beside a row of small, two-story cottages with fenced-in porches, one adorned with a painted cross and another with a wooden American flag.

Though the cottages that burned were unoccupied, residents live year-round in other parts of the center. After a lifetime of summers at the center, Corinne Greely Smith, 82, just completed her first winter.

As she picked up her pies after Easter services and departed for her son's Alton home, she noticed how the wind was whipping across Alton Bay.

"I saw the lake so rough and I thought, I hope there's no fires," Smith said. "I learned not long after it started."

Firefighters drew water from the bay on the same day that ice-out was declared on Lake Winnipesaukee.

All owners of the cottages have been told of the fire, said center director Richard Smith, but it will take time before the center can develop plans to rebuild. He said new cottages would be built farther apart to comply with modern fire code.

Inside the center's main building, reports of past destruction are on display. In August 1945, front pages in Manchester and Boston reported that a fire at the center destroyed 300 cottages and left 1,000 people homeless. Other fires have destroyed cottages in the years since.