BURRILLVILLE – A fire that tore through the roof of a garage housing fire equipment at Zambarano Hospital Friday evening destroyed equipment – and possibly a truck – maintained and used by a fully volunteer staff, leaving an uncertain future for a small village department with a long history.
Pascoag Fire Chief Michael Dexter said the blaze, called in by a passerby who spotted smoked a little after 5 p.m. on Friday, March 7, led to a total loss of the building and equipment. The roof would collapse before firefighters on scene were finally able to extinguish the blaze just after 6 p.m. with a fire engine still inside.
Dexter said it is as yet unclear if the truck will be salvageable after the exposure to burning debris and heat from the fire.
“They were unable due to the fire to get inside to get the truck out – or anything else,” Dexter said. “It has significant damage.”
Firefighters from Wallum Lake were first on scene, with mutual aid quickly called in due to the lack of hydrants in the area. Water was ultimately pulled from the nearby lake to fight the blaze, which was put out in less than an hour.
“We do whatever we can to get the job done,” said Dexter. “The fire was extinguished fairly quickly.”
Still, he said, “The building’s a total loss. Obviously, everything in the station was a total loss. It’s going to be significant.”
That equipment includes gear, hoses, portable pumps, air compressors, tools and more.
“It’s all the equipment it takes to run a fire department on a daily basis,” Dexter said.
The Wallum Lake District has long operated on the hospital grounds, working under the umbrella of the Pascoag Fire Department in recent years. Originally formed as a fire brigade to protect the hospital and its boilers, the small department has also historically served the surrounding village from a garage that was built by Zambarano maintenance staff more than 20 years ago.
The result is a unique situation where the garage itself is state-owned and located on hospital property, but the equipment inside belongs to Pascoag. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals Public Information Officer Randall Edgar noted that while the garage is on the Zambrano campus, it is not used by the hospital in any way.
According to fire officials, fire trucks on the property have provided convenience, while helping to bring down insurance rates for both the hospital and surrounding residents. Without the small outpost, the nearest station is some 4.5 miles away, resulting in inadequate response times to the area by national standards.
“It’s a very important part of the town and the hospital itself,” Dexter said. “It’s also important to the residents.”
It’s an emotional loss for the volunteer firefighters, many of whom served under the late Chief Robert Bishop, who died in 2023 at the age of 70 after leading the district for 50 years.
“They’re a dedicated group of people,” said Dexter. “The guys from Wallum Lake… they were brought up by Chief Bishop. It’s a love of their station. It had a lot to do with how Chief Bishop ran his fire station.”
The station, noted Dexter, has operated for decades with minimal funding, with its leader seeking donated equipment whenever possible. Gear, trucks and more, he said, were often hand-me-downs.
“Basically, everything they’ve had through the years has been donated,” he said. “It’s more than just a fire station burning. It’s very sentimental. They put their blood, sweat and tears into it.”
The department, he said, is made up of 5 to 6 regular volunteers – who went inside as soon as it was safe to remove some of their late chief’s memorabilia from a wall.
“It was very emotional for them,” Dexter said.
The building itself had long been considered inadequate due to a cracking and sinking foundation. The structure had no heat or running water, and was typically warmed by commercial electric heaters to keep trucks and equipment from freezing. Efforts in recent years have looked to the state to provide funding to address the issue, but a bill sponsored by Sen. Jessica de la Cruz in 2023 to dedicate $5 million to the project only passed the Senate, never making it to the floor in the House.
“We’ve been actively pursuing that for a couple of years,” Dexter said.
de la Cruz told NRI NOW on Friday that she plans to renew her efforts to secure resources.
Dexter noted that just last year, a new door and insulation was installed in the structure to keep the truck inside from freezing.
The chief said it will take a little time to determine how to move forward, and how insurance will cover the loss. In the meantime, the Wallum Lake volunteers will work from the Pascoag station on Howard Avenue, and the department may get loaners for temporary replacement of assets lost.
“We’re going to get a truck up there as soon as we can, but we need someplace to store it,” Dexter said. “It’s not a quick process to get something rebuilt. We’ve already started our work and the state has too.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the state fire marshal’s office, and Dexter said it is not believed to be suspicious.
