Crews Battle 5-Alarm Blaze In Brockton
BROCKTON (CBS) - Emergency crews battled a 5-alarm blaze on Brockton Avenue on the city's East Side.
Firefighters responded to the fire at 1 Brockton Ave. about 3:20 p.m. Saturday. The fire went to five alarms about 4:45 p.m. and crews fought the blaze for about three hours.
No injuries were reported.
The building, which formerly housed Beaver Woodworking Supplies, is located across the street from Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital. It was currently occupied by a construction business, New Heights Construction, said Brockton Fire Chief Michael Williams.
"They found heavy fire in the middle section of a three-section building that's used for woodworking," Williams said. "It's owned by New Heights Construction."
Williams said the company had been working on projects for a new home in Norwell, and all the wooden floors and beams were being constructed on the Brockton site.
"So because of the heavy amount of wood in the building itself, causing the heavy fire load is one of the challenging things that we faced," the fire chief said.
Mayor Bill Carpenter said at the scene that he's glad nobody was hurt.
"I think we're just fortunate that there's no injuries to firefighters, the building was unoccupied (when the fire broke out)," Carpenter said.
Frigid temperatures made it a challenge for crews to put out the fire. Several neighboring towns including Whitman and Abington provided mutual aid for Brockton.
Carpenter earlier tweeted that crews worked against "tough conditions" to battle the blaze.
"Thanks to 7 Dept's on scene providing mutual aid. Tough conditions tonight for @Brockton_Fire fighters," the mayor said in a tweet.
A large plume of smoke emanated from the building and could be seen across the area as crews battled the blaze.
Authorities have temporarily closed a portion of Route 123 to traffic and advised motorists to take an alternate route.
