At least six people displaced in Taunton fire

TAUNTON — At least six people were displaced after a fire broke out in a multi-family house at 15 Prospect St. on Monday afternoon, officials said.

“I just thank God everyone is OK,” said Marcia Nichols, who has lived in the second floor rear apartment for eight years and came home from work to find flames shooting out of the window of the second floor front apartment, she said.

No one was injured in the blaze, fire officials said.

The three-story multi-family house with four apartments sustained an estimated $80,000 in damage, largely from water and smoke, Deputy Fire Chief Scott Dexter said.

The fire appears to have originated in the second-floor living room toward the front of the house, Lt. Greg Galligan said.

The call came in at 2:20 p.m. Firefighters were on the scene within three minutes and had the blaze knocked down within a few minutes of arrival, Dexter said.

The fire does not appear to be suspicious but the cause is not yet known, Dexter said.

The most badly damaged apartment was the second floor front unit, where a couple lives with their 11-year-old daughter.

No one was home in that unit at the time the fire broke out, officials said.

The father, Paulo Carvalho, came home to find just about everything they own destroyed in the fire, he said.

His wife, Elisangela Pianco, hugged her daughter, Sofia, as she surveyed the damage, tears in her eyes.

Elisangela, who speaks Portuguese, said through a friend that the family’s Christmas tree and gifts were among the items destroyed.

Sandro Barros, a cousin of the displaced family, took a video inside the unit, where furniture and other items were charred and badly damaged.

Sofia returned from school as firefighters were working to knock down the blaze before her parents were able to arrive from work.

It’s especially difficult to see a family lose everything right around the holidays, Galligan said.

He said firefighters had already discussed “rallying together” to purchase clothes and other items for Sofia.

Barros said he is looking into starting a GoFundMe page for the family.

A retired woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name of Lucy, lives on the first floor and was home when the fire broke out, she said. It was not immediately clear if anyone else lives in that unit.

She realized something was wrong when she saw her ceiling lamp heating up, she said.

One adult lives on the third floor and Nichols lives in the second floor rear apartment.

Taunton Emergency Management Director Rick Ferreira said it appears all the occupants of the building would be displaced at least temporarily, not only due to the direct damage but also due to utilities having to be turned off.

Nichols she said she feels lucky the damage in her unit isn’t worse and is worried about the impact of the blaze on her neighbors.

Fire Chief Tim Bradshaw said the firefighters did a great job of knocking down the blaze and keeping it from doing even more damage.

He was at a meeting in nearby city hall when he heard the call come in and by the time he arrived on scene, the flames had already been extinguished.

“It was a really good stop,” Bradshaw said.