NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) -- An open, vacant building posed an enticing location for vagrants, and raised concerns, according to the city's acting fire chief.
Acting Chief Paul Leger's department has kept watch on the Fairhaven Mills complex for years, waiting for the spark they feared could set off a massive fire.
``The building is open and vulnerable. We have vagrants that get in there quite often,'' he told the Standard Times of New Bedford. ``Every time the city boards it, we find people get right in again.''
But a standing plan put in place proved effective Thursday night, when a call was received reporting flames were shooting from the mills third-story windows. That plan contained the blaze and also ensured firefighters were not killed or injured battling a blaze in a candidate for demolition.
``The game plan on this was to ... get ourselves situated with our water supply and just overwhelm it with a massive amount of water,'' Leger said.
Similar plans exist for at least four other abandoned mills throughout New Bedford, he said.
In addition to the hydrants closest to the mill, fire crews had to hook up to hydrants or trucks well clear of the structure, some as far away as the End Zone restaurant on Coggeshall Street, witnesses said.
As a result, the fire never even came close to touching the houses lining Sawyer and Mitchell streets, once home to the workers who manned the mills.
``They actually did a pretty good job,'' said Mike Alves, 22, a local resident, referring to the 17 fire trucks that surrounded the old mill.
Chief Leger praised his New Bedford firefighters and those who came from surrounding towns to help.
``The firefighters that were there originally made it look a lot easier than it really was,'' he said. ``They worked really hard.''
Cause of the fire remained under investigation Friday.
Officials are hoping to interview witnesses who might have seen or heard what transpired outside the old mill in the minutes before the blaze.
Signs from the state fire marshal's office were to be posted in the North End neighborhood, advertising a cash reward for information leading to a conviction of any one who may have set the blaze, said fire Lt. William Arnold.
