Interior attack with fire extinguisher credited with limiting Providence fire

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A first-on-the-scene firefighter who ran up the stairs to a third-floor apartment at 146-148 Colfax St. was able to knock down the flames with a fire extinquisher before engines arrived, a fire official said Friday.

Acting Battalion Chief John Healey said a ladder truck was the first to arrive to the 2:17 p.m. call. One of the firefighters put out the flames with a fire extinguisher from the inside, Healey said, and an engine company finished the job by 2:32 p.m.

Residents were allowed to return because fire and smoke damage was confined to the third floor bedroom, Healey said. Flames opened a one-square-foot hole in the bedroom floor, he said, allowing water damage to extend to the second floor.