Woman Arrest for Setting Fire at Abandoned Mill in Haverhill, MA,
HAVERHILL — Flames returned to a familiar address near downtown Haverhill early Tuesday, where a three-alarm fire is expected to keep firefighters busy through the next few days.
The blaze burned through a vacant brick mill building, which drew a massive emergency response to a site with a history of similar incidents. The Haverhill Fire Department first received reports of the fire at 2:40 a.m. and were dispatched to 14 Stevens St.
Firefighters encountered heavy flames upon arrival. Ladder trucks, pumps and all kinds of mutual aid came from nearby communities including departments from Salem, N.H., Lawrence, North Andover, Methuen, Merrimac and Georgetown, Fire Chief Christopher Cesati said.
Crews from Plaistow, N.H., Andover and Amesbury covered their local stations.
“We had about 50 firefighters on scene,” Cesati said.
No civilian or firefighter injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation with assistance from the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
By late morning, the blaze had been knocked down, but firefighters remained diligent and on duty, as the chief said crews are expected to continue working for another day or more. Thick fire hoses snaked across roadways, drawing water from nearby hydrants as they streamed steadily from the tops of ladder trucks into the charred structure.
The vacant mill’s walls were scorched dark, with smoke puffing out of its windows drifted into the surrounding blocks. A heavy fog and smoky smell lingered to nearby businesses as far as Lafayette Square.
Water pulsed through the building’s open window frames, streaming down the gutted mill’s floors. Crews were instructed to keep targeting potential hotspots at the site, attacking the scene from both Stevens Street and the parking lot of Sam’s Food Store.
City officials, including Mayor Melinda Barrett and City Councilor Ralph Basiliere, visited the scene around noon, speaking with firefighters and surveying the damage.
With the size of the blaze, the Haverhill Police Department was called to the district for road closures and to redirect traffic, which was reported by police at about 4 a.m. Throughout Tuesday, police cruisers and yellow caution tape blocked off sections of Winter Street at Lewis Street, Broadway at Hilldale, and Essex Street at High Street, allowing emergency crews to operate.
Foot traffic was still permitted, and many onlookers gathered at a distance, watching the aftermath unfold.
“I saw it,” said Nancy Maldonado, who pointed to her apartment only a few blocks away. “I could smell smoke in my apartment.”
The building has long been a problem in the neighborhood and that the structure should have been torn down years ago. The site is mostly vacant apart from homeless individuals who trespass onto the property, she said.
Maldonado added that this isn’t the first fire at the Stevens Street address, as an eight-alarm blaze also erupted at the same location in 2015.
At that time, the building was deemed a total loss, and the previous fire drew more than a hundred firefighters from 19 departments.
Four juveniles were later arrested and convicted of setting that fire and were committed to the Department of Youth Services.
The building had already been vacant for years before that blaze, following the closure of a former tenant, Hudson Machinery. It had been slated for sale for redevelopment into condominiums for $750,000 the day after the 2015 fire.
Longtime resident Toma Sargent said the structure has remained both an eyesore and a controversial site for years.
“There’s a lot of politics with the sale of the building,” Sargent said. Former Mayor James “Fiorentini was trying to push it, and he had a buyer, but he wouldn’t do it because of the river here.”
Concerns about environmental impacts related to the neighboring Little River complicated any efforts to replace the building, Sargent said.
“I believe after that fire it got sealed up, locked up and boarded up,” he said. “Of course, squatters have been in and out throughout that time.”
Workers from Lawrence’s LaPoint Construction Board Up Service also arrived on scene Tuesday. Its services were requested after the property’s 2015 fire as the city paid the company about $100,000 to board up the windows and block off the building — intending to keep future trespassers from igniting another fire there.
In recent years, the abandoned mill has received some attention on social media platforms, with users on Tiktok, Instagram and Reddit involved in an “urban exploring” trend referencing the site as a hotspot for those interested.
Photos and videos posted online show people inside the deteriorating structure as recently as January.
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