Fire tears through Barrington home

Thick black smoke and flames could be seen from as far away as Route 136 in Warren on Friday afternoon, Jan. 10, as fire ripped through a Colonial Avenue home in Barrington.

The fire at 45 Colonial Ave. appeared to start at about noon and crews responded  shortly thereafter. By 1 p.m., the house was still fully engulfed. At about 1:20, the fire forced firefighters off a ladder where they had been shooting water down onto the blaze.

Emergency vehicles blocked vehicle traffic from entering the top of Colonial Avenue where it intersects with Sowams Road. Farther east down the road, fire trucks lined Colonial. A ladder truck parked along the western edge of the property, its ladder extended toward one portion of the sprawling waterfront home.

Neighbors and other curious passersby stood along Orchard Avenue to view the blaze. Some made their way to the edge of the Palmer River and stared at the scene — firefighters spraying streams of water across the natural shingled home; flames leaping through a section of the home’s roof; smoke billowing into the sky; flecks of ash falling onto nearby properties.

A Warren woman said she she was driving north on Market Street at about noon when she first noticed the fire across the Palmer River. She said she could see smoke and flames from as far away as Route 6 in Seekonk.

After finishing a shop at Walmart in Seekonk, she drove back and noticed the fire still fully involved.

A neighbor to 45 Colonial said he believed the homeowners had been away for about five days. He reportedly heard a loud pop before seeing smoke coming from the house a short while later.

Crews from across the region assisted Barrington with the fire.