Central Falls firefighters remove fire-damaged furniture onto a side lawn at 656 Lonsdale Ave. after knocking down a fire at that address Monday afternoon.  Times Photo/Butch Adams

By VINAYA SAKSENA

CENTRAL FALLS — A fire believed to have started in a living room couch Monday afternoon was extinguished by firefighters in an operation nearly complicated by a nearby oxygen tank.

Firefighters responded to a multi-family unit at 656 Lonsdale Ave. around 3:30 p.m. Monday. According to Fire Chief Rene Coutu, no one was injured in the fire, though several residents have been temporarily displaced.
“The apartment is not habitable,” Coutu said. “The house got full of smoke, and it was a black, sooty smoke.”
According to Coutu, the incident was initially reported to his department by neighbors as a cooking fire. However, firefighters quickly learned that the cause was slightly different — and could have been considerably more dangerous.
Coutu said a female tenant had apparently fallen asleep on a couch, in the process dropping a cigarette. Coutu added that firefighters found a large oxygen tank in the building, apparently used by the female occupant for a respiratory problem.
Luckily, Coutu said, firefighters managed to get the oxygen tank out of the building, preventing a possible explosion and reaction between the air inside and the fire.
The woman was also evacuated with dispatch, and no injuries were reported, Coutu said. The building suffered damage to its doors and woodwork, and in other areas, the chief said.
Red Cross personnel were on scene Monday, Coutu said, apparently with the intent of providing shelter for the aforementioned tenant and her husband.
Coutu said the apartment where the fire started would likely need some repair work before it would again be habitable. He said that other units would likely be in useable condition after some cleanup.
Other occupants of the building were not home at the time of the fire.