By SANDY McGEE

BELLINGHAM — Residents are being urged to properly dispose of embers from wood stoves after an accidental fire destroyed a family’s home Wednesday evening on Brisson Street.

No one was injured in the two-alarm fire, which was first reported by a bystander around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
“We received a call from the neighbor across the street, who stated there was heavy fire showing from the garage area,” said Fire Chief Richard Ranieri. “I could see the flames a half mile away. When I got there, the fire had spread from the garage to the main house.”
Firefighters from Bellingham and three nearby communities were able to control the blaze within a half-hour. However, crews stayed at the two-story house at 30 Brisson St. for a couple of hours.
“I kept crews on the scene for a while just to monitor for hot spots,” Ranieri said. “It took a lot of manpower to pull the ceilings apart and open up the walls.”
The white Cape Cod style house at 30 Brisson St. was residence to the Beatties family for the past 13 years. None of the house’s occupants, including a husband, wife, adult son and pet dog, were home at the time of the fire. 
The fire caused extensive damage to the two-story residence on Brisson Street, which is located off Center Street in the area of Pulaski Boulevard. The fire also caused damage to windows and siding on the house next door.
According to the fire chief, the blaze began from the improper disposal of wood stove ashes.
See FIRE, Page A-2
“It was an accidental fire,” Ranieri said. “It appears that this was started from careless handling of wood stove ashes.”
The fire originated in the garage after an individual left hot wood stove ashes in a plastic pail, according to the fire chief. “The hot ashes melted the plastic and ignited onto wood,” he said.
Fire officials are now urging area residents to stay safe when heating their homes this winter.
“We are cautioning everyone that when ashes are taken out of a wood stove, they should be put in a metal container,” Ranieri said. “When you are heating from a wood stove or heating from a pellet stove, make sure you clean the ashes out and put them in a metal container, take them outside and wet them down. When people take ashes and don’t wet them down, it can ignite leaves and brush.
“People should put ashes in a metal reciprocal and take them outside away from the house. They shouldn’t be using any kind of plastic container. They (ashes) can stay hot for quite awhile.”
The fire chief is also reminding residents to periodically check chimneys.
“They (chimneys) need to be check periodically to make sure there is no creosote buildup,” Ranieri said. “Creosote is a tar like substance that lines the chimney.”
Responding to Wednesday’s blaze were more than 30 firefighters from Bellingham, Woonsocket, Franklin and Milford, Mass.