A five-alarm fire destroyed a building at the former state hospital in Taunton Sunday night.
It took a huge effort by firefighters to bring the flames under control.
NewsCenter 5's Jim Morelli reported that the fire was under control Monday morning, but fire crews suspected there were still some hot spots in the rubble and the building's facade was thought to be dangerously unstable.
The massive fire sent clouds of sparks into the cold March air, as dozens of firefighters worked to control the blaze.
"It's a very old building. It's been abandoned for a long time. We have little confidence in the fire walls and the fire doors throughout the structure," Fire Deputy Leman Padelford said.
Crews responded to the fire with about 20 pieces of equipment from the city and surrounding communities. One firefighter suffered minor injuries.
A nearby building used by the state Division of Youth services was evacuated as a precaution.
"The building next to the building that's on fire is the Howland Building. There were about 60 people in the building at the time. They have all been evacuated," Taunton Mayor Robert Nunes said.
Low water pressure made fighting the blaze difficult because the hospital had its own water supply that turned out to be inadequate to battle the fire. Firefighters tapped into the city water supply and drew water from the Mill River, which is the same waterway that was in the news last fall because it threatened to collapse the Whittenden Dam.
Firefighters expected to be on the scene of the old hospital building most of the day Monday extinguishing hot spots and securing unstable walls.
Officials said the building had been abandoned for about 30 years and had no electricity or gas service so they're not sure how the blaze could have started. They're investigating whether it was set.
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