Investigators: Fire caused by smoking

WOONSOCKET – Fire investigators have ruled the cause of a fire at a 36 Mailloux St. apartment building to have been accidental in nature, according to Fire Department Captain Michael Morin, city fire marshal.

Morin said on Wednesday that investigators determined the fire breaking out on a second floor porch was “accidental and the result of careless disposal of cigarettes.”

The fire occurred on Easter Sunday at about 12:30 p.m. during a period of weather marked by dry conditions and strong winds.

The fire on the porch was driven into the second floor hallway of the building and made its way into the attic before being extinguished by responding firefighters.

Two firefighters were reported injured while fighting the fire and were treated at the hospital and released. At least three people occupying apartments in the building were forced into temporary housing until repairs can be completed. Morin said the incident showed the need to properly dispose of smoking materials. “I recommend not smoking on a porch and making sure all smoking materials are properly put out,” Morin said.

Morin said an investigation into a fire occurring at 315 East School Street Tuesday evening has also been completed although the exact cause remains undetermined.

The origin of the fire was traced to a couch in the living room of a second floor apartment, Morin said. “It started on a sofa,” Morin said while noting the exact cause was not known. No one was in the apartment at the time the fire broke out, he said. A pet cat perished in the fire but a pet dog was able to find shelter from the fire in a closet and survived, Morin said. In all, 12 people were forced from their apartments by the fire and will need temporary shelter, he noted.

The fire caused heavy damage to the contents of the second floor apartment where it began and spread up into the third floor and attic area of the building before firefighters were able to put it out.

Smoke and water damage occurred on the first floor and in other areas of the second and third floors, he noted, but the East School Street structure, like Mailloux Street, was viewed as repairable.

“It was an excellent stop and the firefighters did a great job,” Morin said of the East School Street incident.