By RUSS OLIVO

WOONSOCKET — About two dozen people briefly evacuated a downtown building Tuesday morning, after a boiler misfire filled the structure with noxious smoke.

The Woonsocket Fire Department closed off Main Street to traffic from Depot to Market squares for about 45 minutes while firefighters vented the smoke with large fans, said Deputy Fire Chief Thomas F. Williams.
The misfire of the oil burner in the basement triggered an alarm at fire headquarters shortly before 8:30 a.m., said Williams. Alarms also sounded throughout the building, which includes addresses from 99-113 Main St. The large, three-story building known as the Commercial Block, has a number of apartments upstairs and a series of ground-floor storefronts, including a tattoo parlor, a beauty salon, a vacant bank and a “bar” where patrons to smoke flavored tobaccos through Mideastern-style water pipes known as hookahs.
“The alarm system did what it was supposed to do. The residents did what they were supposed to do,” said Williams. “Quite a few occupants were temporarily sheltered while we vented the smoke until we were sure the air met our quality standards.”
Kevin Duprey, the building manager, said the air in the building was “a little fuzzy” when he heard alarms sounding. Firefighters said there were no injuries or complaints of breathing problems, but Duprey said the fumes were too overpowering to remain in the building.
“As soon as I knew what it was I went downstairs and shut the boiler off,” said Duprey. “The fire department was already on the way.”