Acushnet Fire Department Press Release
At approximately 4:10 am on Saturday, May 2nd, multiple 911 calls were received simultaneously by both New Bedford Police Communications and Acushnet Police Communications reporting a structure fire in the area of 7 Tarkiln Hill Rd, which lies on the Town line between Acushnet and New Bedford. Both communities activated a full response of Police, Fire, EMS and EMA.
First arriving fire crews encountered heavy fire throughout 7 Tarkiln Hill Rd, which houses a hair salon and a small apartment in the rear, with fire beginning to spread to the River’s End Bar next door at 7 1/2 Tarkiln Hill Road A seccond alarm was called on arrival and brought in additional Acushnet and New Bedford Fire apparatus and personnel to the scene. Fairhaven Fire responded to the Acushnet Fire Station to provide coverage to the Town.
Firefighters battle a blaze that destroyed Nice Cuts at 7 Tarkiln Hill Road, on the line of Acushnet and New Bedford, and next door to the River’s End Cafe, which was also damaged on 5/2/26. Photo courtesy of the Acushnet Fire Department.
The bulk of the heavy fire was extinguished within thirty minutes. Crews then spent the next hour and a half or so to overhaul and wet-down hot spots. The incident is still under investigation, but the preliminary investigation reveals this to be an accidental fire.
The Salon and apartment are total losses and the River’s End Bar suffered significant heat, fire and water damage. There was minor exterior heat damage to the multi-family house next door on the west side of the salon building.
No injuries to civilians or any emergency responders were reported. All crews were fully returned to service by 7:15am. The American Red Cross is assisting the lone individual displaced from the apartment.
“I would like to thank the hard-working men and women of the Acushnet Fire & EMS Department, Acushnet Police Department and Emergency Management staff that assisted the owners. This has been an extremely busy few months, between all of the snow and the increase in fire activity (both in town and assisting our mutual aid partners) and the staff has gone above and beyond to perform their jobs and provide a valuable service to the community. I could not be more proud of the men and women of the Acushnet Fire & EMS Department,” said Acushnet Fire Chief, Thomas Farland. “I would also like to thank our brothers and sisters from New Bedford Fire, Police and EMA for their joint response to this incident and their hard work to bring this incident to a conclusion with no injuries.”
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