Middletown Fire Staffing Levels Criticized After Tuesday Blaze

MIDDLETOWN, RI — A New Year's Eve fire that injured a father and daughter, and destroyed a home in a duplex, in Middletown has reignited tensions over staffing at the Middletown Fire Department. The Rhode Island State Association of Fire Fighters issued a statement on Wednesday calling the fire a "scary example" of the staffing issues that they say the town has been warned about for a very long time.

"We all were extremely lucky, the events (Tuesday) could have easily resulted in the loss of life," RISAFF president Joseph A. Andriole said in the statement. "It took resources from two other communities to handle this incident. What would have happened if they weren't available? This is grossly unacceptable."

Crews from Newport were the first to respond Tuesday to the fire on Woolsley Road because Middletown fire crews were on another emergency call. Luis Mateos told WPRI-TV that his brother, Teddy, received burns and suffered from smoke inhalation when he ran into the burning building to pull out his 11-year-old daughter, Trinity, who also sustained burns and smoke inhalation.

Both were recovering at the hospital on Wednesday. WPRI-TV said a Newport firefighter was also recovering from smoke inhalation at Newport Hospital.

The RISAFF said in the statement that staffing in the Middletown Fire Department has remained stagnant for more than 30 years as the population has aged, development has increased, and emergency calls have tripled.

"I hope the events yesterday can be a wakeup call for town leaders to do the right thing and to work collaboratively with the firefighters to fix this public safety problem," Andriole said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshal's office.