A massive fire that burned through an abandoned mill building along the river in Chelsea, Massachusetts, last month started with some form of human activity, investigators said Wednesday, although they did not say whether it might have been set intentionally or accidentally.
Fire officials are asking for the public's help in identifying the person or people involved in starting the Nov. 18 fire, which took many hours and firefighters from dozens of area fire departments to extinguish and resulted in the partial collapse of the structure. Nearby schools were closed and the MBTA commuter rail was temporarily halted. No injuries to firefighters or civilians were reported.
“The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation, but the evidence so far suggests that one or more people were present when the fire broke out,” State Fire Marshal Jon Davine said in a statement. “We’re extremely fortunate that no one was hurt – or worse – by the fire or structural collapse.”
One witness told NBC10 Boston she saw six or seven people running from the area before the fire spread.
Chelsea Fire Chief John Quateri said his department was always worried about something like this happening at the long-vacant mill building at 1 Forbes St., and said weekly inspections at the site and aggressive pre-planning for a fire of this nature were instrumental in containing it.
There had been no power to the building in years and fire officials said it was known as a location where juveniles, people who are homeless and others would sometimes congregate.
Anyone with information on the cause of the fire or those involved is asked to call the Arson Watch Reward Program’s hotline at 1-800-682-9229. The Arson Watch Reward Program is coordinated by the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting association and offers rewards of up to $5,000 for information that detects or prevents arson crimes.
