Firefighters save West Main Road house

By Bruce Burdett
Posted 4/29/16

LITTLE COMPTON — A quick attack by Little Compton firefighters and support from surrounding towns saved a two story house at 6 West Main Road late Thursday afternoon.

Little Compton Fire Chief …

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Firefighters save West Main Road house

Posted

LITTLE COMPTON — A quick attack by Little Compton firefighters and support from surrounding towns saved a two story house at 6 West Main Road late Thursday afternoon.

Little Compton Fire Chief Richard Petrin said that a school-age teenage boy in the house called 911 at about 3:45 p.m. to report fire in an upstairs bedroom.

The first fire crews to arrive saw considerable smoke coming from the house. There was “heavy fire in an upstairs bedroom” of the two-story older cape-style wooden house.

The firefighters mounted “a very aggressive attack” and managed to confine the fire to that bedroom, the chief said, adding that the blaze was controlled in about 20 to 30 minutes.

Nobody was hurt and the boy’s parents, whom he had called, arrived while the fire was being extinguished. Town tax records indicate that the house is owned by Edith and Everett Willis and family.

Chief Petrin said the cause of the fire is unknown and that it is being investigated by the state fire marshal’s office.

Although it will need repairs for flame damage to the bedroom, smoke, water and heat damage in some other locations, and a small hole in the roof, the house can definitely be occupied again, the chief said. The family is staying with friends for now.

“We were very fortunate,” Chief Petrin said, adding that he is grateful for the work of his own crew and the “great response” from neighboring fire departments. Sending tanker trucks to supply water (the town doesn’t have hydrants), were towns including Tiverton, Westport, Portsmouth, Swansea, Warren and Middletown. Tiverton also contributed firefighters to the effort while Fall River provided backup at the station. Although street water tanks were set up, most of the water needed to fight the fire came from the fire engine’s own supplies.

“We are very fortunate to have good neighbors,” the chief said.

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