It could have been worse

Warwick Beacon ·

A loud bang followed by a column of black smoke is how an employee of Café Tempo at the intersection of Toll Gate and Centerville Roads described the Saturday late morning accident followed by fire to a four-unit house on Toll Gate Road.

As described by Fire Chief James McLaughlin and Mayor Scott Avedisian. who were still on the scene by that afternoon, the driver of a pickup truck swerved off the road and slammed into the house, rupturing the natural gas line. The resulting fire quickly spread in the wood house. The driver, who did not sustain life-threatening injuries, was transported to nearby Kent Hospital, as was one of the tenants. Everyone made it safely out of the house. However, because it was too dangerous to enter the house, a National Grid crew was brought in to unearth the gas line and shut it off from outside the building. Periodically, firefighters wet down the house until the gas was shut off and the source of the fire stopped. The incident caused the closure of that section of Toll Gate Road for about six hours.

Here, Deborah Tikonian of National Grid confers with Fire Chief McLaughlin and Mayor Avedisian at the scene. (Warwick Beacon photos)