Fire swept across a New England bayside resort called the Inn on Pawtucket, leaving several guests gasping for their breath and getting treatment for smoke inhalation. According to a local fire official, a small fire started on an outside wall of Villa number 106, and then quickly spread onto the surrounding roof and inside walls. A total of 16 timeshare villas were sustained damages, but fortunately no one was injured.

People who first responded to the fire were dismayed by what they found to be a fire hydrant that was welded shut and inoperable. A water tanker arrived too late as the fire had already engulfed an entire wing of the venue. Since the inn's construction in 1920, no sprinkler system had ever been installed, although resort officials had secured a permit for site improvement that would have a fire suppression system installed by late February. Resort officials explained that they decided to wait until February, during which occupancy rates are the lowest throughout the year.

Police officials will be filing charges against the culprit, who is now under their custody and whose fingerprints were found by forensics all over the welded fire hydrant. Police add that they had apprehended a frustrated timeshare owner who had been arrested at the crime scene and eventually admitted to committing arson.

Source: Wall Street Journal