New Bedford firefighters contain West End house fire

By BRIAN FRAGA
SouthCoastToday.com

NEW BEDFORD — Firefighters extinguished a West End house fire that broke out just before 7:30 a.m. today.

The fire appeared to have started in a vacant first-floor apartment at 1383 Pleasant St.

Firefighters put out the fire within 15 minutes of arriving and were able to contain the blaze to the living room. There was some reported water damage in the basement and smoke damage to the second-floor apartment. There were no injuries.

A woman who lived on the second floor said she left the house after seeing smoke coming underneath her door.

Fire officials at the scene did not give a suspected cause of the fire, saying that it was still under investigation.

Neighbors standing outside on the sidewalk speculated the fire might have intentionally set. A police detective was seen leaving the house holding tin containers marked with “evidence” tape.
Firefighters left the scene by 9:30 a.m.