Update: One Firefighter Injured in Cook Ave Fire

WILMINGTON, MA — One Wilmington firefighter was hospitalized fighting the Cook Avenue house fire Friday, Deputy Chief William Cavanaugh said Monday. The fire began as a chimney fire but rose to a second alarm fire, the second the department dealt with in two days. The department called in mutual aid from a half-dozen area departments, over the course of the two fires.

The firefighter has been released from the hospital but is still out of work, Cavanaugh said.

The first fire, Thursday afternoon, was at 33 Industrial Way, the site of ChemGenes, a biotech company. There were no injuries, and fairly minimal property damage, but a hstate hazardous materials team had to be called in, due to the fire affecting a hazardous waste barrel. The fire began as a flash fire on a piece of equipment, Cavanaugh explained.

The facility had a sprinkler system, which activated, he said.

"There were chemicals. We opted to wait until we got clearance from hazmat, because we had 100 percent verification that the building was being evacuated," Cavanaugh said.

District 6 Hazmat arrived on the scene to assess, and got assistance from Wilmington's Crystal trucking to deal with the hazardous waste barrel. Due to the building layout, Cavanaugh said, the fire did not spread beyond the area it began. There was a lot of water damage, from the sprinklers, but only a moderate amount of fire damage, he explained.

Crews from Woburn, North Reading, Tewksbury and Reading provided mutual aid on the scene, while Andover and Billerica crews covered the Wilmington fire stations. The fire was raised to a second alarm due to the hazmat risk. The scene was not cleared until 10 a.m. Friday.

The second fire, at 28 Cook Ave, came in around 9:20 a.m. Friday. On the scene, crews saw heavy smoke, and found fire coming out of the back of the building, so they raised it to a second alarm, Cavanaugh said. Crews from Woburn, North Reading and Tewksbury provided support, while Billerica, Andover and Burlington covered Wilmington stations.

"We kept them very busy," Cavanaugh said.

The fire did a "good amount of damage to the structure," mostly in the rear and attic, Canvanaugh said. The fire was under control around 11, but the scene wasn't cleared until 1:30, Cavanaugh said. Main Street, at the Woburn town line, was closed for some time, police said.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.