Volunteer firefighters responded to four incidents Saturday morning, including a vehicle fire that sent heavy smoke billowing from the Newport Bridge and a technical rescue of a hiker stranded on coastal rocks.
The busy stretch began at 9:29 a.m. Oct. 4 with a carbon monoxide alarm on Sampan Avenue, according to Jamestown Volunteer Fire Department Facebook posts.
At 10:07 a.m., crews were dispatched to St. Matthew’s Church for a medical call.
Three minutes later, at 10:10 a.m., firefighters responded to a motor vehicle fire at mile marker 138 westbound near the center span of the Newport Bridge. Newport Fire Department also responded to the incident.
Crews could see heavy smoke from the bridge’s center span while en route. Due to traffic conditions, first-arriving companies accessed the scene by traveling in the opposite direction via the westbound lane.
Upon arrival, firefighters found a single vehicle with a significant fire in the engine compartment. Working alongside Newport Fire units, crews quickly extinguished the blaze.
The morning’s final call came at 12:29 p.m., when crews were dispatched to the area of 609 Beavertail Road for a hiker trapped on the rocks.
When crews arrived, Jamestown Police Department officers had already made verbal contact with the woman, who was uninjured but unable to find her way back to the trail.
Firefighters equipped with cutting tools and an all-terrain vehicle began clearing a new pathway to reach her. The department also deployed a drone and Marine 1 to help locate an alternative exit route.
After approximately 30 minutes of work, crews completed the pathway and retrieved the woman, who was found unharmed.
The department said it prioritizes using specialized resources — including drones, all-terrain vehicles and marine units — when responding to incidents in state parks or wooded areas near the shoreline to improve response times for locating and evacuating patients.