Burned Pierce Building Housed School Facilities Department

Workers on Saturday sifted through the charred remains of the Salmon Brook Street building that houses and the Board of Education's facilities and maintenance department that required the response of firefighters from six towns Friday afternoon.

Lost Acres Fire Department Chief John Horr Jr., said that 73,000 gallons of water along with firefighters from Granby, Simsbury, Avon, East Granby, Suffield and Granville, MA, were needed to bring the blaze under control.

No injuries were reported in the fire, which destroyed six of the construction company’s eight vehicle bays; two of the damaged bays were leased by the Granby school district, while four others were used by Pierce, Horr said.

“Six of the bays were total losses,” said Horr, who added that two of the building’s bays were saved because of the installation of firewalls that stopped the fire from spreading.

Several burned-out construction vehicles were visible on the site Saturday morning in addition to the damaged bays.

Superintendent of Schools Alan Addley said in a telephone interview Saturday that the school district lost all of its maintenance vehicles, including plows and small-engine equipment, and tools and other resources in the fire.

Addley said that five maintenance workers for the schools worked out of two of the building's bays, which was leased by the school district.

School officials, according to Addley, met today to put a plan in place for the next two weeks that includes purchasing new tools and equipment.

"Obviously we didn't need another financial challenge in these times, but we'll do what we need to do to move forward," Addley said.

A representative from Pierce Builders released a prepared statement thanking firefighters and town residents for their support.

"I would like to thank the town for the support they have given us and we appreciate everything they have done to help," said Brian Pierce, co-owner of Pierce Builders.

The fire was called in at 3:37 p.m. Friday afternoon and Granby firefighters weren’t dismissed from the scene until midnight, said Horr.

Traffic in both directions of Rte. 10/202 was blocked for several hours Friday evening as firefighters fought the blaze, which was contained around 4:45 p.m.

“[Firefighters] did an awesome job,” Horr said. “They stopped it from spreading with the help from surrounding towns. … There were people inside the building when it started. It was a heavy fire. It went quick.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, though security cameras installed on the site have proven helpful in determining how it started, Horr said.

According to people associated with Pierce Builders, the fire ignited due to an electrical short in one of the vehicle bays.

A website states that H.P.J. Construction Company, which is a division of Pierce Builders run out of the Salmon Brook Street building, is “family operated” and “is responsible for building, remodeling and renovating quality commercial and industrial structures for many local area businesses.”

Pierce Builders employs more than 20 people, according to a source close to the company.

The fire caps a long two weeks for the Lost Acres Fire Department, which responded to more calls over that period of time than it has in the last four months in the wake of the massive power outages caused by a late-October snowstorm, Horr said.

Most of the calls the fire department responded to were for electrical problems, such as downed wires, defective smoke alarms, carbon monoxide warnings and pumping out flooded cellars, Horr said.

Things haven't been easy on the schools, which had over a week and a half of classes canceled because of power outages and downed wires.

"You have to look at the positives," Addley said. "There were no injuries [in the fire] from Pierce or the firefighters or the schools. The fire departments did a great job."