A vacant commercial building that firefighters called "extremely dilapidated" went up in flames early Friday morning in Wakefield, Massachusetts, and fire officials in the town said Saturday that the fire's cause is still being investigated.
Wakefield emergency crews began battling the fire before 5 a.m. on Friday on Main Street, and had to call in help from surrounding communities like Melrose, Stoneham, Reading, North Reading and Lynnfield.
Heavy smoke and heat made it hard for the firefighters to find the source of the fire; the building housed empty storefronts, offices and storage spaces, and squatters had to be cleared from the building.
Eventually, firefighters found the source of the fire in a sub-basement with no access; a news release said that crews ventilated the building, and made trench cuts through the first floor to get access to the fire source. More mutual aid departments were called in.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
The heavy body of the fire wasn't put out until around 8:45 a.m., and it was considered under control at around 9 a.m., the Wakefield Fire Department said in its release.
"This is a building in town which has remained vacant for many years and is very well-known to firefighters as an extremely dangerous structure to operate at should there be a fire," Deputy Chief Thomas Purcell said. "We are fortunate to have an excellent department and an exceptional mutual aid system. I would like to thank the mutual aid crews who work tirelessly alongside the Wakefield fire companies in getting to the seat of this stubborn fire and preventing the fire from spreading to several businesses along the Main Street block.”
An investigation is ongoing by several agencies, including local police and fire, state police and the state fire marshal's office.
