A Busy Night For NK Firefighters

For North Kingstown's firefighters, Thursday night was just one of those nights. At 8:25 p.m., the fire department received word of a basement fire. But, the fire wouldn't be the talk of that night as the , along with four other local departments, took on five more calls in addition to the house fire.

"That was four hours there that a lot of stuff was happening," said North Kingstown Fire Chief Fenwick Gardiner Jr.

Just before 8:30 p.m., NK firefighters arrived at 8 Hawthorne Court off Hatchery Road for a basement fire. With the aid of East Greenwich and Exeter fire departments, crews had the fire contained and under control in 15 minutes.

A husband and wife were home at the time of the fire, which Gardiner believes may have started in the kitchen area of the partially finished basement. Both the husband and one North Kingstown firefighter were transported to South County Hospital for smoke inhalation treatment. According to Gardiner, both were treated and released.

Though the fire was under control, it would be three more hours before crews left the scene. According to Gardiner, basement fires are notoriously tricky and stubborn.

"Basement fire retain heat and just by where it's located in the house it's difficult for that heat to go anywhere," said Gardiner.

During that time, North Kingstown Fire Department's dispatch received of a burst pipe at . After that, the department received calls from SSTAR and , totaling up to five additional calls aside from the house fire. NK received aid from fire departments in Warwick East Greenwich and Narragansett for those calls.

"It's a bit unusual," said Gardiner. "We typically will get one call during a fire, but to have five...it's just uncommon."