A wooden boat repair shop at a shipyard in North Kingstown, R.I., is a total loss after a 3-alarm fire broke out early Tuesday, firefighters said.
The fire started around 4:07 a.m. in a building at Wickford Shipyard at 125 Steamboat Ave., North Kingstown Fire Chief Scott Kettelle said in a statement. The building houses George W Zachorne Inc., the boat repair shop, the shipyard said in a statement.
“Upon arrival, companies found heavy smoke coming from the upper floors of the building, making access to the fire difficult for firefighters,” Kettelle said in the statement.
A shipyard employee who declined to give her name saw flames shooting through the roof of the repair shop.
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The shop is a “light-gauge metal building,” Ketelle said.
“Early on in the fire, we had a collapse of some of the side walls. There [were] no people in the building, so we did not risk putting people in at that point. We kept our people at a safe distance,” Kettelle told reporters at the scene.
The fire was under control as of 10 a.m., said North Kingstown Fire Captain John Linacre.
No one was injured, the statement said.
Firefighters from Warwick, West Warwick, Narragansett, East Greenwich, South Kingstown, and Exeter were battling the flames, Kettelle said.
“Residents in the Poplar Point area are advised to use caution and observe street closures when leaving their homes this morning,” the statement said.
The shipyard began servicing yacht operators in 1938, according to Wickford Shipyard’s website. The boat shop was founded in 1989, said Mary Dias, an office manager at the shipyard.
Firefighters are investigating what started the fire, Linacre said.
Alyssa Lukpat can be reached at alyssa.lukpat@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlyssaLukpat.