Several fire departments battle two overnight fires in North Providence
NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – It was a busy night for North Providence firefighters after battling flames at two homes in two neighborhoods.
“The street was lined up with fire trucks,” Kenneth Calabro said.
Calabro lives on Rosemont Terrace next door to the first home that caught on fire. That fire happened at about midnight and sent one person to the hospital for smoke inhalation and killed three pets.
“That’s sad,” Calabro said. “They had Chihuahuas; like five of them I think and I guess three of them died.”
“They got the pets out and were doing CPR on the pets and did the best they could,” North Providence Fire Chief John Silver said.
Chief Silver says they were finishing up on Rosemont Terrace when a call for another fire on Hamlin Road came in at about 2:00 a.m.
“When crews showed up, there was fire coming out of every window,” Chief Silver said. “It was pretty much fully involved.”
About 40 firefighters from several different agencies responded to the blaze. As the smoke grew and nearby brush caught on fire, the situation quickly became dangerous.
“The building itself was very dangerous at the time,” Chief Silver said. “Probably about a half hour in, we gave the order to evacuate, and nobody go in the building.”
The Chief says it looks like the fire started in the basement, though the building has been vacant for about 10 years with no gas or electricity. It’s owned by the City of North Providence. The Mayor says they have plans to turn it into recreational fields.
“It probably would’ve had to come down for us to enjoy open space, multi-use fields,” Mayor Charles Lombardi said.
Until then, investigators are looking into how it started.
“Was it arson? Was there a squatter in the building? We don’t know yet,” Mayor Lombardi said.
Chief Silver said there were signs of homeless people living there. He says there were mattresses and blankets found inside the home; however, no one was found inside the building after the fire started.
The State Fire Marshal is investigating both fires.
©WLNE-TV/ABC6 2021
