Fireworks the cause of Pond Street blaze

WOONSOCKET –A Pond Street family’s personal Independence Day fireworks display went horribly awry when – despite exercising what seemed like due care – the debris from their spent fireworks set fire to the tenement they lived in, leaving eight people homeless.

The fire at 453 Pond St. broke out about 3 a.m. Thursday, a few hours after the family doused the remnants of the used fireworks with water and disposed of them in vinyl trash receptacles positioned against the three-family, said Lt. John Polacek, deputy assistant state fire marshal for the Woonsocket Fire Department.

“They thought they were doing the right thing,” said Polacek. “Evidently they weren’t out because there’s six trash barrels that are no longer there.” The fire spread from the vinyl barrels – which are highly flammable – to the facade of the house and up into the roof on the third floor. A neighbor heard smoke alarms sounding and called for help. Everyone got out safely. Crews from the WFD responded and made quick work of the fire, containing most of the damage to the exterior the building. Although the heat melted the exterior vinyl on an adjacent tenement located a mere 15 feet or so away, WFD crews managed to prevent the fire from spreading to the neighboring building. Polacek said the family that staged the Fourth of July display used legal “ground” fireworks that came from Wal-Mart. Aerial devices – such as bottle rockets – remain illegal after the state relaxed the laws on fireworks several years ago. Deputy State Fire Marshal John Dean stressed that it wasn’t the use of fireworks that caused the fire, but the manner in which the users disposed of the debris. “It’s a very similar situation to where people take the ashes out of their wood stoves and pellet stoves,” he said. “You think you’re doing the right thing. But these materials need to really be put in fireproof containers and put away from any other combustible materials.” Asst. Deputy State Fire Marshal Gary Harnois said the city shut off all the utilities to the tenement and isn’t allowing anyone to move back in until further notice. City records say the house is owned by Suzanne T. Morelle and Denise Morelle of 453 Pond St. LLC in Wakefield.

The residence was home to three families, with eight occupants in all. A tenant who lives alone on the third floor wasn’t home when the fire broke out, firefighters said. Personnel from the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Red Cross responded to the fire and distributed aid to one family consisting of two adults and another with three adults and two children, said Philip Stocking, the agency’s senior director of disaster cycle services. The families were given “comfort kits” containing toothbrushes, deodorant, shaving supplies and other personal items; a “recovery envelope” with tips and contact information for get- ting resettled; and cash for emergency food, clothing and shelter. Red Cross workers will follow up with the victims in the coming to days to work on a longer-term recovery plan, said Stocking.

Ernest A. Brown photo Extensive damage can be seen on the rear of 451-453 Pond St. in Woonsocket Thursday after used and discarded fireworks are believed to have ignited a blaze here overnight. A second-floor tenant said he was awoken by his young daughter around 3:00 a.m. to see smoke and flames outside his bedroom window.

Ernest A. Brown photo The flames were so intense, they melted the aluminum siding on a rear vacant building behind 451-453 Pond St. in Woonsocket overnight Wednesday.

A second-floor tenant, who asked not to be identified, removes his belongings after a fire in the rear of 451-453 Pond St. in Woonsocket Thursday morning.