NASHUA – Enslie Rockwell had the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head and sipped a soft drink as he stood in the rain Friday looking up at the broken window in the room where an early morning fire burned him and his family from their West Hollis Street home.

“I couldn’t believe how bad it was,” Rockwell said. “I was in panic mode trying to get out of there, and not realizing, ‘Wow, look how much smoke there really is.’ You can’t see, you can’t breathe.

“I wanted to get my dogs out, and I kept trying, but I couldn’t do it.”

Honey Bun, an English bulldog, and Ziggy, a German shepherd/bulldog mix, made it out, but Georgia, another English bulldog, died in the fire, Rockwell said.

Firefighters were dispatched to the home shortly before 8 a.m. and encountered smoke showing on the second floor of the 21?2-story building, which is owned by Elizabeth Darling, of Litchfield, according to Nashua Fire Rescue.

Crews didn’t encounter any special hazards aside from one of Rockwell’s dogs, which bit a firefighter on the neck.

The firefighter was treated and released from a hospital, according to Nashua Fire Rescue.

Investigators determined the fire was sparked by a candle on a bedside table.

“See this table right here?” Rockwell said while standing in the driveway of the two-family apartment building. An American Red Cross vehicle was parked out front.

“I had a candle on top of it – a glass one. The glass got hot, cracked open and spread wax all on it.”

Rockwell said he suspected a ceiling fan spread the flames onto nearby paper.

Rockwell said he and his girlfriend, Vanessa Bowers, lived in the apartment with their two children. Rockwell was home alone with their youngest, Chloe, 4.

“They checked her out, said you must have got her out quick,” Rockwell said.

Rockwell went downstairs and banged on a door to an apartment rented by his uncle Lee Dorval.

Rockwell said the apartment will need repair, and that the American Red Cross and their landlord will work to put them up temporarily.