Firefighters responded to a house fire in Roberta Plat on Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 13.

Barrington Fire Chief Gerald Bessette said the department received the call a little before 12:30 p.m. and quickly responded to the home, which is located near the intersection of Pine Cone Drive and Houghton Street. 

“Captain (Scott) Carroll was the first one here,” said Chief Bessette. “He said there was smoking coming out of the windows, the eaves, the back of the building.”

The fire chief said the fire appears to have started at the back of the house.

“They’re looking at the area of the deck where there’s a natural gas grill, but we’re not sure about that,” Chief Bessette said. “It was pretty well burned back there. Definitely started in the back of the building somewhere. We’ve got three (fire) marshals back there, looking.”

Steve Turhune and his wife Susan were not home when the fire started. Terhune said he was at work when he received a phone call from a neighbor who spotted smoke coming from the house. 

“It was a neighbor who called. That was a big help,” Terhune said. “He called the fire department and then called us at work.”

Barrington firefighters responded to the scene, along with crews from East Providence and Seekonk. The Warren Fire Department covered the Barrington station during the response.

By 2:15 p.m., the fire was out and officials from the state fire marshal’s office were investigating. Some windows had been knocked out. Through the open front door, passersby could see the remnants of the fire inside the house. 

Chief Bessette said the fire had spread through most of the home’s interior. 

“It was the whole back, into the roof, into the attic and across the attic. All the ceilings are pulled except for the two end bedrooms,” Chief Bessette said.

Terhune had been inside the home to inspect the damage. 

“The back side got heavily damaged. It’s into the ceilings,” Terhune said. 

Officials from the state fire marshal’s office spent time talking to Terhune.

“They were more concerned about when the grill was last used. That was last Friday,” Terhune said. 

Chief Bessette said the Red Cross was expected to stop by the scene and offer some assistance to the family. 

“It’s going to be quite a while (before they can go back in there),” the chief said.