Update: Portsmouth fire probe to continue into next week
3:05 PM Fri, Apr 24, 2009 | Permalink
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PORTSMOUTH, R.I. -- The investigation into the four-alarm blaze Thursday at New England Boatworks will last at least through early next week, as investigators have already planned to return to the scene next Tuesday, Fire Chief Jeffrey P. Lynch said Friday. Meanwhile, nearby businesses at the marina reopened Friday. Four New England Boatworks buildings were damaged in the fire, which was reported at 5:21 a.m. Thursday. The fire was the worst in Portsmouth in some time, Lynch said. Fighting it was "very challenging," he said, because the buildings were so close together -- about three feet apart -- and the facility houses so many chemicals, fiberglass, machinery, flammable gases and other materials for the business. Most fires his department battles are dwelling fires, he said. At DePaul Diesel, whose building is two Quonset huts away from the closest of the damaged New England Boatworks buildings, co-owner Jamie Freitas said they were working with a generator Friday morning. When he got into the building Friday, it had no electrical or phone service, but he said their building "is absolutely fine." "So we're doing great over here," Freitas said. "We're very lucky." Freitas said he could see burned electrical lines near his building, and he has arranged for electricians to work at restoring service to his building. In the meantime, he was running a generator so boat-repair work at DePaul Diesel could continue Friday. Lynch praised the dozen fire departments that responded to the blaze after the first crew heading to the fire sought immediate mutual aid. The fire destroyed at least one Quonset hut at the boat-building facility and marina on the western shore of Portsmouth, Lynch said Friday. The fire began in Building 9, the middle of three affected Quonset huts and the one that was destroyed, Lynch said. The other two Quonset huts are still standing, Lynch said Friday. Building 8 sustained substantial interior damage but looks structurally sound and should be able to be re-occupied. Building 10 will probably need to be condemned, he said. Two firefighters remained overnight at the marina along Narragansett Bay, keeping a fire watch, Fire Capt. Michael O'Brien said Friday morning. While crews extinguished hot spots hours after the fire was declared out at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, there have been no additional hot spots -- or flare-ups of smoldering embers that need to be doused -- since midnight, Lynch said. Lynch said investigators were still at the marina Friday morning and that if they need to conduct forensic testing, those results will obviously take "a while." Lynch said Thursday afternoon that the investigation would be a long one because of the condition of the buildings. The roof of Building 9 collapsed shortly after firefighters went inside. All four firefighters inside the building escaped without injury, and Lynch kept others out of the building afterward. Both the Portsmouth and state fire marshals are involved in the investigation. This story was originally published at 7:57 a.m. and updated at 1:23 p.m. 
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