Providence Journal photo / Richard C. Dujardin
Eight people, including two children, escaped a fire at 12 Lowell Ave. in the Silver Lake neighborhood.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Smoke filled the Silver Lake neighborhood for several blocks around Pocasset and Lowell as firefighters battled a two-alarm blaze in two-story house at 12-14 Lowell Ave. late Monday afternoon.
Deputy Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Desmarais said the front of the house was fully involved when fire fighters arrived at the scene at 4:30 p.m., prompting a second alarm.
None of the eight residents were injured, although one fire fighter was taken to Miriam Hospital with injuries associated with heat, according to Desmarais.
Iris Guzman, one of the eight family members living at the house, said she was on her way back from dropping her mother off at work when she received a call from her brother and his girlfriend that the house was ablaze.
Although the bulk of the fire was knocked down within 45 minutes, the building had several interior voids where the fire continued to burn.
Guzman, 25, said she had lived in the house since she was 8 years old, along with her parents - the building's owners - Emma and Narcisco Guzman. Besides her sister and brother brother and his girlfriend and their one-year-old baby, the house was also home to her seven-year child.
While fire officials said the blaze still under investigation, Guzman said she believed it began with a mattress lying on the side of the house. Desmarais said firefighters did an excellent job of containing the fire.