Newport
Newport carriage house heavily damaged in fire
10:51 AM EST on Thursday, January 24, 2008
Newport firefighters battle the blaze from inside the carriage house of Elm Court, an estate at Bowery Street and Bellevue Avenue.
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The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires
A carriage house next to the Kingscote mansion in Newport caught fire last night, drawing a large response from firefighters.
About 40 firefighters responded to the three-alarm fire at 315 Bellevue Ave., according to Firefighter Timothy Rolando. The Fire Department learned of the fire about 7 p.m., Rolando said. Fire officials last night said the blaze was extinguished around 9 p.m.
“They are having a difficult time getting the fire out. It is raging,” Trudy Coxe, chief executive officer of the Preservation Society of Newport County, said last night. “It is an extraordinarily beautiful carriage house.”
The preservation society owns Kingscote, a Gothic Revival building commissioned in 1839. Last month, the preservation society received a $95,011 grant to pay for roof repairs at Kingscote and a conditions analysis.
The fire did not spread beyond the carriage house to Kingscote mansion.
The carriage house adjacent to Kingscote was occupied, but no one was injured in the fire, Firefighter Robert Henry said. The cause and extent of the damage were not immediately known.
The home and carriage house at 315 Bellevue Ave., at the intersection of Bowery Street, are owned by the heirs of Cary Guy Fairfax Jr., according to city records. The assessed value is $3.1 million.
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