LAWRENCE, Mass. --
Firefighters had their work cut out for them Sunday in Lawrence when two separate fires broke out at an abandoned Mill.
Crews were first called to the former Merrimack Paper Company on South Canal Street around 9 a.m.
The fire quickly reached 3-alarms, prompting mutual aid to be called in from several surrounding communities.
Several firefighters had to be treated on the scene for heat exhaustion. Officials said none of them needed to be transported to the hospital.
The blaze was eventually knocked down.
Around 3:30 p.m. crews were called back to the scene when an adjacent building at the mill when went up in flames. That fire also struck three alarms.
Fire officials were unclear of the exact cause of the fires but were calling them suspicious. Crews had battled a similar blaze at the mill about a year ago.
Sunday's fires came a month after the city cut 23 firefighting jobs and closed a third fire station. The cash-strapped city has had to rely on help from surrounding communities as it tries to balance its budget.
"It's pretty tough," said Lawrence Deputy Chief John Marsh. "But we're blessed with the other town's tax payer's money fighting our fires."
Marsh said he isn't confident that surrounding towns will be able to keep helping them out.
"I don't think they're going to keep this up," said Marsh. "This is not what mutual aid is supposed to be about."
"It certainly is a drain to the other communities," said Captain Paul Leischner of the Salem, N.H. fire department.
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