Norton Fire Assists Easton in Three-Alarm Blaze

In what has been a difficult two months for Wayne Edwards, the owner of just off Washington Street on route 138, he saw his building burn to the ground Friday in a three-alarm fire that sent more than 10 fire departments, including Norton, to the Easton location.

The building as a result of accumulated snow on the roof.

Easton Fire Chief said workers were busy moving supplies out of the building when the building was engulfed with flames. He said the use of fork lifts and cutting torches could have sparked the fire.

"It’s still under investigation but the initial reports we got were that there were crews working inside the building as part of the operation to clear out the building," Stone said. "Apparently there was some sort of [event with] a cutting torch. They did try to extinguish the fire on their own but it got too big too fast and they pulled out."

The building was quickly engulfed in flames, escalating to a three-alarm fire, and sending a slew of fire departments to the scene, including Easton, Brockton, Raynham, Stoughton, West Bridgewater, Norton, Taunton, Sharon, Bridgewater, Kingston, Mansfield and a canteen from Providence.

Explosions ocurred during the course of the fire. Stone said the explosions could have resulted from propane tanks left inside the building.

Because all utilities were out of use after the partial collapse in February, Stone said the sprinkler system was not set off, which posed another problem.

"When they had the collapse about a month ago, all the utilities, including the sprinkler system were shut down because it was damaged," he said. "That was a problem for them. Normally if there was a fire the sprinkler systems would be operating and going to work to help extinguish the fire."

Edwards refused to comment.

"It’s a tragedy that they had a major roof collapse earlier and now this happened," Stone said.