Jan. 30--CRANSTON, RI-- Fourteen firefighters were taken to the hospital after the response to a fire inside an Elmwood Avenue jewelry company disturbed chemicals stored in the back of the building.
Of the 14 taken to Kent and Rhode Island hospitals and Roger Williams Medical Center, seven of the firefighters had been discharged by late Monday night and the other seven were listed in good condition, said Cranston Deputy Fire Chief Paul Valletta Jr.
The firefighters still hospitalized were given antidotes for cyanide poisoning, Valletta said.
Fire Chief William McKenna said crews responded to Gem-Craft Inc. at 1420 Elmwood Ave. for a report of a small fire at about 4:30 p.m.
After the fire was extinguished, firefighters noticed some of the chemicals stored in the back of the building had been disturbed.
"The chemicals are packed in cardboard containers, some of them in drums," McKenna said to reporters at the scene. "When the sprinklers activated, it weakened the containers."
A fire hose brought into the building knocked some containers off of their shelves, he said.
"Some reacted with water," McKenna said. "Some of them reacted with each other."
McKenna would not say what chemicals were inside the building. That information will be released during the course of the state fire marshal's investigation into Monday night's fire, he said.
There were at least 10 fire trucks and multiple ambulances along Elmwood Avenue Monday night and dozens of firefighters walked around the property and the surrounding area. Some set up a decontamination tent beside Gem-Craft and lay towels down on the pavement.
Bob Brown, who works as a secretary at another company in the building, stood in the parking lot of the Ocean State Job Lot across the street, waiting to be able to get to his car, which was parked beside the building.
He said he heard that chemicals used in plating jewelry had caught fire and saw thick black smoke pour from the backdoor. He saw at least one firefighter taken away by ambulance.
"He looked knocked out," Brown said.
McKenna said firefighters had been taken to area hospitals to be monitored after they were exposed to the chemicals. All first responders will be checked at a hospital "eventually," he said.
All of the injuries appeared to be non-life-threatening, McKenna said. One firefighter reported difficulty breathing and another sprained an ankle. The rest were taken as a precaution.
Mayor Allan Fung arrived at the scene around 6:15 p.m. He said he would be visiting each of the injured firefighters, and thanked them for their service.
McKenna said the state fire marshal will investigate whether any code violations may have contributed to the fire. At 6:30 p.m. he said he expected crews to remain on Elmwood Avenue for several more hours.
"It's going to be a long night for us," McKenna said.
With reports from Journal Staff Writer Mark Reynolds.
Correction: Fire officials earlier had said 12 firefighters were hospitalized. That number was updated late Monday night.
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