MA Crews Cut Through Boarded Windows to Fight 3-Alarm Fire

FALL RIVER, MA—The Fall River Fire Department made quick work of knocking down a mill fire at the former Duro Industries II plant on Middle Street on Tuesday morning, the scene of a major blaze at the vacant structure 10 years ago.

"It could have been far worse if it had taken place at night, it would have been tough to discover," said Fire Chief John Lynch. "But somebody saw it, called it in, and we were able to knock it down in a hurry. There's a lot of debris in there, so yes, it could have taken off."

A call came in about the fire at 8:10 a.m., said Lynch. The first to respond to the scene was Engine 4 from the Niagara Fire Station led by District Chief Jeffrey Bacon and his firefighters.

Lynch said Bacon noticed flames coming from the second floor and traveling into the third floor of the building. A ladder truck was placed in front of the window.

Most of the windows in the three-story mill are boarded up, so firefighters had to cut through the wooden boards to battle the blaze.

Nearly all of the fire department's apparatus responded to the fire scene in anticipation that the fire could have been more serious, said Lynch. Surrounding homes were temporarily evacuated until it was under control by 10 a.m.

Lynch said there have been problems at the property.

"Recently there's been a rash of trash fires in the back. It looks like this one started inside," said Lynch, who stopped short of calling it an arson fire because it is still under investigation.

The mill has been shuttered for years and was the first of Duro's three buildings to shut down. Duro at one time was a fabric manufacturer.

Lynch said there are no utilities connected to the mill and that all chemicals have been removed. The chief said the building is for sale.

On Oct. 26, 2010, a suspicious fire burned at the former Duro II mill site located off Bay Street, not far from Matthew J. Kuss Middle School. Black smoke billowed from the building toward the Braga Bridge for hours, and the 600-student middle school and a smaller school and day care center nearby were evacuated without incident.

Due to COVID-19 shutting down schools, no such evacuation was necessary during the latest fire.

City Inspectional Services Director Glenn Hathaway was at the scene waiting for the fire department to allow him to enter the mill.

"It's been boarded up, but people keep entering the building," said Hathaway.

Lynch commended his firefighters for their work at the fire scene and in particular District Chief Bacon for his coordination to battle the fire.

Fire departments from Tiverton, Swansea and Westport provided coverage of the city's fire stations while Fall River was at the Middle Street fire scene.

Fall River Fire Chief John Lynch says there were no injuries in a 3-alarm mill fire on Middle St., an unoccupied building formerly known as Duro Manufacturing, scene of a spectacular blaze around 2009.

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