8 displaced after fire destroys 2 homes in Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Four children and four adults are displaced from their homes after a fire ripped through two dwellings in Providence Tuesday night.

According to Providence Fire Department’s Chief, Derek Silva, crews began battling a three-alarm fire on Indiana Avenue involving two homes around 7 p.m.

Deputy Assistant Fire Chief, Kevin Jutras, said nobody was injured in the blaze, but the two homes are uninhabitable.

He said 60 firefighters from Providence and and neighboring areas spent hours battling the blaze that spread from one home to another.

This is a photo of firefighters supplying water to two homes bearing smoke and fire damage on Indiana Avenue in Providence.

Jutras explained that during their efforts, crews experienced a mechanical issue with a fire engine where a water pump failed causing them to lose their water supply for a brief period of time.

The Red Cross is assisting the displaced families and the fire remains under investigation by the Providence Fire Department.

A neighbor who happened to be leaving his home at the time of the fire told ABC 6 News that he saw the blaze before firefighters arrived and did what he could to help.

Providence Fire Chief Derek Silva shared this photo of a 3-alarm fire at two homes on Indiana Avenue.

“Out of nowhere I saw this lady with a baby in her hands — she’s running out in the middle of the street and the neighbor came out with a water hose so I just grabbed it and just started spraying it wherever I saw fire,” Miguel Vazquez explained.

“I tried to get close but the smoke was just way too thick,” Vazquez continued. “I had to just try to step back and everybody’s yelling at me ‘step back, step back,’ and the whole house was melting — it was like it was raining.”

Vazquez said a family who lived in the home moved in only five months ago.

The fire is under investigation.