Boy killed, eight rescued in house fire

December 22, 2008

A 7-year-old boy was killed when fire broke out at a home he was visiting on Earl Street early yesterday, officials said. Police and fire officials were called about 5:10 a.m. for heavy smoke and fire coming from the second floor of the house. The victim was near a window on the second floor with other occupants when he apparently panicked and ran away from the window toward the fire. Attempts by other occupants to rescue the boy were unsuccessful, and the intense fire kept emergency personnel from reaching him. Eight people were rescued, including four adults and four children. One of the adults was injured jumping from the roof, and all the children were hospitalized for evaluation. The Red Cross is assisting the victims, who were not identified. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Rhode Island fire marshall's office is looking into the cause of a fire that gutted a fruit and produce stand at Tower Hill Farm early yesterday, according to the North Kingstown Fire Department. Arson is not suspected in the fire, which began about 9:40 a.m. and caused no injuries, said North Kingstown Fire Chief Patrick Campion. It took five engines and five tankers to douse the fire, as well as assistance from departments in South Kingstown, Narragansett, Jamestown, Exeter, and East Greenwich. While the monetary damage is unknown, the fire destroyed everything in the stand, including the Christmas trees the farm had for sale. "There's significant damage," said Walter Barnes, who has owned and maintained the more than 40-year-old family farm for 15 years. "But we will rebuild."

Roxbury police are seeking the culprit who stole one of three evergreen trees - complete with Christmas lights - from a town park. Police Chief Gary LaFreniere said the 7-foot tree was sawed off 10 inches from the base at Four Corners Park sometime this past week. The tree was one of three blue spruces planted at the park in the fall of 2007. The theft was discovered by Roxbury resident Betty Robinson Walker, who was once president of the town's park committee. (AP)

A company that sold metal trinkets containing high levels of lead will pay the state $215,000 and live by restrictions on the amounts of lead in products it distributes within Vermont, under a settlement with the state. The settlement with Ganz USA is the second in less than a week in which the state attorney general's office has gone after a manufacturer over lead in products. Vermont was part of a multistate settlement with Mattel Inc. and subsidiary Fisher-Price Inc. over high levels of lead in coatings on toys. The state got $450,000 from that settlement. Lead is a toxic heavy metal, and tiny amounts of it can cause brain impairments in children. (AP)

Shoppers at an eastern Connecticut Wal-Mart were treated Saturday to free $10 gift cards from an unidentified man, who passed them out to strangers in front of the Lisbon store. A store spokesman confirmed the incident, saying it was not a Wal-Mart promotion. He said the man purchased $1,500 worth of gift cards, then started to hand them out in the lobby before he was asked to move outside because crowds were beginning to build. Elizabeth Markovitz, a Salvation Army worker manning a kettle near one of the entrances, said the man passed out all of the cards within a half-hour. He disappeared before anyone could ask him what had prompted the gesture. (AP)

Waterbury police are searching for suspects in the stabbing of an 85-year-old woman found dead on her kitchen floor over the weekend. Police say they believe Laura Orso was killed Thursday night. A friend who had been trying to reach Orso discovered her body Saturday. Police are investigating whether robbery was a motive. Orso's death was Waterbury's fifth homicide in 2008. (AP)