Four-alarm fire rips through Central Falls home
By Jordan Mazza
Email: news@abc6.com
Twitter: @ABC6
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I (WLNE) – The call came in just after noon as flames were bursting out of the Jenks Avenue home.
Central Falls firefighters, arriving in about a minute, found the fire already spreading quickly.
“From the time they called it to the time we pulled up, we had flames blowing out both sides of the house,” said Central Falls Fire Chief Robert Bradley.
Bradley also found two people who had been inside the house.
One had jumped through a second-floor window and was transported to Rhode Island Hospital.
The other resident managed to walk out the front door to escape the fire.
“It was crazy when I walked down the street,” said neighbor Sara Provost. “When I walked out I saw the flames come pouring out the first floor, and then I watched the flames keep going up as more fire departments came.”
Multiple departments from Rhode Island and Massachusetts helped Central Falls respond to the four-alarm fire.
It took two hours for firefighters to get the blaze under control.
Power lines added to the challenge.
“It made it extremely difficult to get our aerial ladders from surrounding communities in place, so pretty much everything had to be done off ground ladders,” Bradley said.
The intense blaze forced firefighters to start attacking much of the fire from the outside — but ultimately no firefighters were injured.
“Everybody did a phenomenal job,” Bradley said. “We’re very, very thankful.”
Bradley tells ABC6 News the home is likely a total loss.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
©WLNE-TV/ABC 6 2020
