One woman dies, three saved in Borderland Farms fire

Warwick — Mother’s Day ended in tragedy at Borderland Farms, when one woman was killed in a late-night blaze that destroyed the almost 200-year-old farmhouse. Pam Henry, 43, the barn manager, was found dead on the second floor of the house after the fire was under control. Her husband, Patrick Henry, 47, and her daughter, Kaitlyn Martin, 16, were rescued from the third floor roof by the Warwick Fire Department just minutes before it was engulfed in flames. Virginia Martin, 76, owner of Borderland Farms, also escaped from her first floor home with the help of firefighters and police. The fire was caused by a cigarette butt that had been tossed into a wood pile earlier in the evening, according to Warwick Fire Chief Bill DiMartini. “They saw the pile catch fire and thought they put it out,” the fire chief said. “It smoldered and caught the deck on fire.” As tragic as it was, it could have been much worse if it weren’t for a passerby who saw the fire, went to the burning house, and alerted the residents. “The people in the house didn’t know it was on fire,” said DiMartini. “There were no smoke alarms. The woman banged on the front door to alert them. It’s a good thing people saw it from the road or we could have lost three more lives.” The first 911 call came in at 10:58 p.m., DiMartini said. His firefighters were already assembling at their respective fire houses because of a call for a smoke smell on Miller’s Lane. The police checked out Miller’s Lane while firefighters instead headed to Borderland Farms, a 240-acre horse farm on the border of New York and New Jersey. When they arrived, the entire back of the house was already in flames. Kaitlyn Martin and Patrick Henry were on the third floor roof. Warwick firefighters hoisted one ladder up to the second floor roof, and then another up to the third, rescuing both Martin and Henry. “No sooner had they come down, the roof was covered in flames,” DiMartini said. The fire started on the outside of the house at the back. It spread quickly, DiMartini said. But it was a difficult fire to fight. With a slate roof, plaster walls, and cement and blocks for insulation, the heat was intense. “It was like a brick oven,” said one firefighter. The fire was brought under control around 1 a.m. It was then they found the body of Pam Henry in a second floor bedroom.