Photo: Photo courtesy Newburyport Fire Department
NEWBURYPORT, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Fire crews from two different states battled a three-alarm fire in Newburyport Saturday at an industrial building on Perkins Way.
Newburyport Fire Chief Christopher LeClaire said crews responded to the scene at the Bradford & Bigelow printing company at around 10:36 a.m. after getting reports of a fire. When crews arrived they found heavy smoke and fire coming from an array of solar panels on the roof of the building that spanned 150 feet by 60 feet.
A second alarm for the fire triggered around the time the crews arrived, and a third went off shortly after that. Fire crews were able to extinguish the flames and get the fire under control by around 11:10 a.m.
Chief LeClaire said crews were able to limit fire damage to the roof and solar panels by aggressively attacking the fire, but the building did take some water damage. He said he estimates the overall damage to be around $2 to 4 million.
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Dozens of employees were in the printing building at the time of the fire. They were all safely evacuated and no injuries were reported. Crews from two different states and nine different departments helped to put out the blaze.
"I would like to commend the professional and aggressive work done by our firefighters and mutual aid partners which prevented significant damage to the building," Chief LeClaire said in a statement. "Thanks to their quick work, we were able to contain the fire and rapidly extinguish the flames."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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