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SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

NORTH ATTLEBORO - For 15 years or so, self-employed carpenter Jon Phipps has brought his tools to homes around southern New England.

Sadly, he needs new tools for his next job, this morning on Cape Cod.

An accidental fire in his truck, parked at his 4 Kevin St. home, destroyed all of his equipment.

No one was injured, Fire Chief Peter Lamb said. The fire also reached the nearby corner of the house "but we were able to protect that." However, the blaze was devastating nonetheless.

"Every tool he has is in there," Lamb said. "That's his livelihood.

"This wouldn't be any different than burning a business downtown."

The fire happened around 3:20 p.m. on Kevin Street, off of Calvin Road, off South Washington Street.

Phipps, a lifelong North Attleboro resident, said he had returned home from an errand and then went to his shed for some roofing supplies.

"I came out, and it was on fire," he said.

"I had every piece of equipment I own in the truck."

Firefighters placed that equipment, charred, on his front lawn after the fire.

Phipps said he planned to buy new equipment today.

"I'm still going to the Cape (this) morning," he said. "Luckily, I have a neighbor who's going to let me borrow his truck and his trailer. "Right now, there's nothing else I can do. I could stand here and weep about it, but there's no reason."

Phipps said he called 911 from his cell phone after spotting the fire.

However, the call went to the Framingham state police barracks, he said.

A firefighter who saw the fire pulled up and called the North Attleboro fire department from Phipps' house, Phipps said.

Lamb said the truck was engulfed when firefighters arrived.

Propane torches and a 20-gallon propane tank in the back of the truck concerned firefighters initially.

"The danger there is an explosion," Lamb said.

However, firefighters "flooded an enormous amount of water" on the back of the truck to prevent such an situation, he said.

Phipps said the 20-gallon tank was meant for cooking for his crew today "so I wouldn't have to do so much cooking inside, so I wouldn't have to clean so much."

Sadly, the fire also destroyed a chair he got as a Father's Day gift last year.

"I sat in it twice," he said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.