The weekend fire totally destroyed the popular Palmieri bakery that had been in Johnston for 36 years.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers Kathy Borchers

JOHNSTON — Stephen Palmieri’s father Domenic came to the corner of Killingly and King streets 36 years ago with little more than a satchel of flour and some borrowed money.

He was inspired by the same values and visions that had driven other Palmieris to establish bakeries on Ledge Street in Providence and on Federal Hill. He succeeded, and his son followed in his footsteps, keeping the bakery popular in an evolving economic environment.

But the younger baker felt challenged like never before as a backhoe clasped and grappled at the burnt-out remains of D. Palmieri’s bakery yesterday morning.

A weekend fire — sparked by an overheated oven and fueled by several natural gas lines — had reduced the two-story, 4,700-square-foot structure to a foundation and a handful of blackened walls.

“I’m just overwhelmed right now,” Stephen Palmieri said. “I look at it. I don’t know what to say.”

He thanked the town’s firefighters as well as legions of loyal customers, and even a few competitors, who have been a source of support for the family since the fire.

And he seemed confident about the way forward, vowing to rebuild the bakery and save the family business for the sake of his two sons.

“That’s why I want to rebuild it,” he said. “They’re here, too. It’s going to continue on.”

An investigation by the Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal traced the origins of the blaze to a huge gas-fired oven that Palmieri’s father had acquired back in the 1970s.

The first-floor oven was big enough to hold 24 pans of pizza or 144 loaves of bread.

The oven appliance overheated about 2 a.m. Sunday. The business was closed to customers at the time, but several employees were in the building.

Due to a malfunctioning temperature control dial, they did not realize the oven was too hot until it was too late, according to Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Ucci.

Heat radiating from the oven ignited various items located above it and the fire was under way, Ucci said.

“It was such an old building and it was so dry that it just went right up,” he added.

The swift-moving fire burned into the pipes for three different natural gas supply lines, Ucci added.

This greatly complicated the job of dousing the blaze. Armed with four fire engines and a ladder truck, 20 firefighters made their attack.

A fireball swept over some firefighters who opened one of two doors leading into the building from King Street, Ucci said. They heard the sound of an explosion, he said.

The same thing happened when they opened another exterior door about 15 feet away, he said, adding that he believes the fireballs were related to the situation with the gas lines.

The gas meter that controlled the lines was inside the structure, Ucci said. This is unusual. Firefighters had to wait for National Grid workers to arrive with a special tool to access a meter for the entire block, he said.

Meanwhile, the companies focused on protecting a house to the rear of the bakery. The home, owned by the Palmieris, was saved, but not the old bakery — a workplace for about 25 employees.

The building and its contents went up in flames tinted by the blue-shade of burning natural gas.

Giant cans of tomato sauce exploded in the night.

“The tops just popped right off,” Ucci said.

Yesterday morning, Palmieri and his two sons, Stephen D. Palmieri Jr. and Eric J. Palmieri, were already contemplating a new building.

Palmieri, 55, of North Providence, said he was working out arrangements with a contractor and an architect.

Friends, family and a loyal customer base were ready to tackle the job of rebuilding.

“Yesterday was a shock,” said Eric Palmieri. “Today, it’s trying to move on, move forward.”

He said he and his family were moved by the community’s energetic reaction to the blaze.

“Seeing what it means to everybody,” he said, “it’s just so surprising.”

Kevin J. DeBritto, 42, was one of the loyal customers who stopped by for a visit.

He said he could remember buying lemon squares for his grandmother as a young boy. He recalled the pizza strips he once bought for 5 cents a piece.

“I remember the day this place opened,” he said.

mreynold@projo.com