Oct. 18--Two fires broke out almost simultaneously in vacant residential buildings around midnight today, forcing the city to call in help from surrounding towns to battle the blazes that ended in the partial collapse of one of the structures.
At two minutes before midnight, a call came in for a fire at 49 Greenville St.
As firefighters started battling that fire, another call came in at 12:12 a.m. for a fire at 16 Warren St.
As most of the city's firefighting equipment was dedicated to the first blaze at Greenville Street, which became a 2-alarm fire, a call went out to bring in off-duty firefighters and then additional apparatus from surrounding communities.
The Warren Street fire was in an unoccupied residential building undergoing renovations, according to police and fire officials.
Dep. Eric Tarpy called it a "stubborn" fire that got into the walls and was difficult to extinguish. However, the building was not a total loss, he said.
The fire at 49 Greenville St., also a vacant residential building under renovation, led to a partial collapse of the structure.
Nobody was injured in either blaze.
Firefighters remain on-scene at both locations and both fires are under investigation at this time, Tarpy said.
