Cause of massive Tiverton fire under investigation

TIVERTON, R.I. (WLNE) — Burning flames engulfed the General Auto Recycling lot off of King Road in Tiverton Wednesday morning.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“At 2:30 this morning we received a call that there was a report of an explosion and smoke and fire was visible from a residence,” Fire Chief William Bailey said. “We responded and had a large fire in the midst of the pile of autos. It was a really great initial response.”

The specific location was difficult to get water supply to.

“Lack of water supply with no hydrants here,” Bailey said. “We had to call for two tanker task forces. It was massive mutual aid.”

Fire departments from Rhode Island and Massachusetts were on the scene all morning.

Crews knock down a heavy fire at the General Auto Recycling center lot in Tiverton, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (WLNE)

“It was a matter of getting the water supply established with the tanker task force,” Bailey said. “That takes a little bit of time when they are coming from varying distances.”

The owner of the auto lot assisted the fire crews by pulling out auto pieces to help to clear the scene.

About 1,500 gallons of water a minute was used to put out the fire.

“And now what we are doing is we are using the front-end loader to break the pile up and working with handlines to get the remaining fire,” Bailey added.

The chief told ABC 6 that those living nearby do not need to be concerned about the smoke. The scene was far enough from residential areas that it will not cause issues.