Air quality a concern after fire destroys vacant Everett warehouse
By WBZ Staff
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EVERETT, Massachusetts (WBZ) — There were air quality concerns in Everett early Monday morning after a large fire tore through an old industrial building overnight.
Flames broke out in the vacant warehouse on Norman Street around 10 p.m. Sunday. No one was hurt.
Deputy Fire Chief Lawrence Cardinale said the building has been empty for at least a year. They were worried about the chemicals left behind and how that could impact the air quality for firefighters and the neighborhood.
“It was just an old, very old building and it had the big timber which probably had a lot of either, like, oil or other type of substance that was just embedded in all the wood,” Cardinale told reporters. “It had a lot of void spaces. It was very difficult to get the water on certain parts of the building.”
National Grid had to shut off power to the area to protect firefighters.
A hazardous materials team was brought in to monitor the air quality as a precaution. Cardinale said it appears to be fine. He told reporters they were fortunate no one had to be rescued.
“If anybody was in the building, there’s nothing that could’ve been done. The building was fully involved,” the deputy chief said.
The building will now be demolished.
There’s no word yet on how the fire started.
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