Firefighters Extinguish Hemlock Ave. House Fire [Video]

Cranston Firefighters extinguished a house fire at 85 Hemlock Avenue shortly after 1 p.m. today.

Nancy Rotella, who lives at the house with her son Edward, was alone at the time the fire started. She said she was in the kitchen when she saw smoke outside the window.

She first thought the smoke was from a neighbor's grill. But when the smoke began to blacken and enter the house, she ran outside and realized the house was on fire.

"Maybe I shouldn't have, but I went back in and got the dogs out and called 911," Rotella said as she sat on a stretcher across the street from the house, her hair in curlers.

Edward Rotella said he was in Johnston when his mother called to tell him the house was on fire. He said he was worried about his mother because she had triple bypass surgery in 1999 and was pretty shaken up by the ordeal.

The fire was extinguished shortly after firefighters arrived. Multiple ladder trucks and fire engines, along with a few rescue vehicles, responded to the scene.

The fire is under investigation and no cause has been determined yet.

The fire caused extensive damage. Multiple windows were broken out, a hole was cut into the roof and smoke and water damage occured, especially on the second floor.

Edward Rotella said he expected to talk to an insurance adjuster sometime today. 

"The house can be replaced," he said, thankful nobody was hurt. "That's what insurance is for."

A neighbor at the scene said a house at the same location burned to the ground some years ago under a different owner. The neigborhood is quiet and tight-knit, she said.