Crime & Safety
Front Street Fire in Vacant Building 'Incendiary' in Nature
State, City Fire Marshals investigating cause of Dec. 27 blaze.
A fire that struck a vacant restaurant on Front Street Friday night was incendiary and suspicious in nature, drawing the Woonsocket and State Fire Marshals to investigate the cause.
Acting Woonsocket Fire Chief Tim Walsh said the fire was incendiary and suspicious, contained largely to the outside of the 754 Front St. building, which has been vacant for about a year and a half. Firefighters were called to the address at 9:07 p.m. Dec. 27.
Woonsocket Fire Marshal Mike Morin could not comment on the details of the investigation, which he said is ongoing.
The spot has been the site of a series of restaurants, and though this is the first time it has caught fire while untenanted, "This is not the first fire in that building," Walsh said. He said the WFD has been called to that building about five times during his 27 years with the department. It was most recently the home of a Chinese restaurant.
Walsh said the building is owned by Kim Thung of Lake Placid, New York. He said the building was being renovated.
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