Dehumidifier blamed for fire at Barrington office building
Fire department: Smoke damage throughout most of 310 Maple Ave.
Departments from three towns responded to a fire at 310 Maple Ave. on Tuesday night, Nov. 15.
At about 7:30 p.m., an alarm sounded inside the building which houses dozens of offices and an urgent care walk-in clinic. Firefighters from Barrington arrived a few minutes later and entered the building at the rear, near the walk-in clinic.
A fire alarm control panel indicated that the fire was located on the second floor. Firefighters began moving toward the fire and encountered light smoke at first, then heavy black smoke as they moved deeper into the large building.
Eventually crews located the fire's origin — a dehumidifier located in a hallway.
"The sprinkler system activated the alarm," said Barrington Fire Captain Ed Owens. "The sprinklers knocked most of it (the fire) down. We had to finish it up."
Capt. Owens said the fire burned long enough to rip through a section of wall, and the smoke spread throughout most of the building. Firefighters from East Providence and Seekonk were called in to assist the Barrington crew, while Warren covered the Barrington station.
Capt. Owens said reaching the fire was a bit of a challenge, as the building is quite large and spread out. He added that the only part of the building that was occupied at the time of the fire was the medical walk-in clinic, which evacuated after the alarm sounded.
Firefighters remained at the building until about 10:30 p.m.
