Solar panels the likely cause of fire on commercial building roof in Cumberland

CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WLNE) — Fire crews were out at a fire all of Monday afternoon putting out a fire on the roof of the Westminster Pet Building on Martin Street.

Smoke coming from the Westminster Pet Building on July 22, 2024 (Photo courtesy of Shane Corsi)

Cumberland fire chief, Nicholas Anderson said only the roof was damaged and right now they believe the cause of the fire was from the solar panels that cover the roof.

“The roof is completely covered with solar panels. Solar panels are labor intensive on a day like this. Part of it was access by using ladder trucks and it’s a physically intensive operation,” said Anderson.

Photo from drone of roof damage on Westminster Pet Building, July 22, 2024 (Courtesy of Ken R.)

A call came in around 12:15 p.m. Monday when someone spotted thick black smoke in the area of Martin Street.

All of the workers inside of the Westminster Pet Building were evacuated and nobody was injured.

Multiple departments responded to the fire because the Cumberland fire department is small, so mutual aid was important in this case.

Drone footage of the fire damage on the roof of the Westminster Pet Building. (Courtesy of Ken R.)

According to the chief, the solar panel system on the roof here is about 10 years old and fire crews are seeing these types of fires more often.

Some firefighters dealt with heat exhaustion on scene.

The fire remains under investigation.