Pigeons Escape Chicken Coop Fire in Middletown

Firefighters worked quickly to extinguish a fire in a chicken coop behind a Third Beach Road residence in Middletown on Thursday.

Nobody was hurt in the blaze and most of the flock of pigeons living in the coop escaped to safety, said Middletown Fire Dispatcher Brian Powell.

Middletown got mutual aid from Jamestown, Tiverton, Little Compton and Newport and crews had to put out a brush fire that extended from the coop, which was about 25 feet by 30 feet, Powell said.

Flames broke out shortly before 3:30 p.m. and crews arrived at the house at 128 Third Beach Road to find the coop fully engulfed.

A cause of the fire has not been determined. A single-family home on the property was not affected by the fire.

Town records show the 360 square foot poultry house is recorded by the tax assessors office and assessed at $1,600.