A fire happened in the early morning hours of Thursday July 5, 2018 at the Country Mart convenience store located at 397 Little River Rd, Westfield. By daybreak, Westfield fire department staff and the state Fire Marshall were still on scene. No cause was determined by press time. (WNG file photo)
WESTFIELD – The Country Mart on Little River Road suffered significant damage in a fire which broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Fire department personnel report a resident walked into the Little River Fire station, which is almost directly across the the road from the convenience store, to report the fire and police arrived at 2:27 a.m. to find a fire in the rear of the building.
The responding firefighters from the sub-station immediately knocked down the fire there but found that the fire had extended into the attic.
Engine Four and the department’s tower truck arrived from the department’s Broad Street headquarters and the Engine Four crew opened the roof to find heavy fire inside.
The crew from the tower truck gained access to the first floor of the building and, after opening the ceiling, extinguished the fire in the attic.
Deputy Chief Andrew Hart reports that the cost of the fire damage to the building was estimated to be $75,000 while the cost of the damage to the contents was estimated at $50,000.
Firefighters report they left the scene of the fire at 5:09 a.m. but a residual crew remained to keep a fire watch until fire investigators arrived.
The cause of the fire is under examination by investigators from the Westfield Fire Department, the state Fire Marshall’s office and the Westfield Police Department.
