Heavy Fire at Mixed-Use Building in Arlington Overnight

A firefighter fell through the first floor of the building, but wasn't hurt and continued working

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Heavy flames ripped through a mixed-use building overnight in Arlington, Massachusetts.

The flames have been put out, but the chief said firefighters would be on scene for a while, checking for hot spots and extension into other areas of the building.

The mixed-use building caught fire at around 11 p.m. Wednesday on Dudley Street.

Arlington Fire Chief Kevin Kelley said there’s an electrician’s shop, bike shop and machine shop inside the building – so there were concerns about flammable materials like varnishes and paints, and even rubber tires, so that complicated the firefight as well.

The building is also very compartmentalized and backs up to the bike path, so access from the back was limited, the chief said.

There were some tense moments when a mayday was called, as a firefighter fell through the first floor of the building.

“Our first engine arrived, reported heavy smoke and fire coming out of the roof, we started an interior, aggressive interior attack, shortly into the fire, we had a firefighter go through the floor," Chief Kelley said. "Fortunately he wasn’t injured, he was able to rescue himself, at that point the incident commander evacuated the building, and we went into a defensive mode.”

Chief Kelley said that firefighter actually continued to fight the fire. No one was inside at the time the fire broke out, so there were no injuries.

Meanwhile, the amount of damage is unclear, and the cause and origin of the fire remain under investigation.

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