Coventry Firefighters Battle Garage Fire in Frigid Temperatures

Photos: Everett Trainer

Firefighters in Coventry battled a garage fire that destroyed an auto body shop on Knotty Oak Road on Friday night, enduring frigid temperatures, water issues and the risk of explosion due to propane and acetylene tanks in the building.

It took crews more than two hours to knock down the blaze and the building, home to K&L Auto Repair, Desimone Floor Covering, Air Flow Heating & Air Conditioning and other businesses, suffered extensive damage.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene shortly after the first call at 8:09 p.m. and found smoke billowing from the building and a fire inside the garage.

Flames began to shoot through the roof shortly after firefighters got to the scene and firefighters went into defensive operations as they attacked the fire from above

During the fire, a business owner tried to get inside the building and had to be stopped multiple times.

Nobody was hurt in the blaze and the cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Coventry Fire District Fire Marshal, the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal and Coventry police.

The fire was finally under control shortly before 10:30 p.m.

Crews from the Anthony, Hopkins Hill, Hope Jackson and Central Coventry fire districts responded to the fire. Even the chief from the Western Coventry Fire District was at the scene to assist, though his district did not respond.

Everett Trainer contributed to this story.