Four firefighters were injured fighting a massive 7-alarm fire at the Anglo Mill Complex in Webster, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon, and the fire continued to smolder into Friday.
The fire tore through the abandoned mills at 103 N. Main St. and spread to some nearby homes, fire officials confirmed.
Webster Fire Chief Brian Hickey said four firefighters were taken to the hospital; however, two of the firefighters have since returned.
There are no active businesses in the Anglo complex, which was scheduled to be demolished.
"Right now we've got the upper hand on the fire," Hickey said at a 4 p.m. news conference. "There's still a lot of smoke, a lot of embers."
Because of the products in the building, which include building and roofing materials, he said some small explosions occurred as the fire burned, but they were nothing to be concerned about.
Officials say hazardous materials inside the building made the smoke toxic.
Hickey said the fire spread to the roofs of some nearby homes, but did not cause any major damage. Some homes were evacuated, and he said those residents will be allowed to return as soon as things calm down a bit.
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"We're into our mop up right now," he said. "We've got it contained to the main building. The secondary building's still got quite a bit of fire."
Acting Webster Town Administrator Pamela Regis said the fire involved several buildings at the old mill complex. She said no one was inside the building, but there is severe property damage.
The towns of Auburn, Douglas, and Oxford, among others, responded to the scene to provide mutual aid.
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Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said the mutual aid provided by nearby departments were critical to controlling the fire.
"We're in a very dense neighborhood here, and if not for the aggressive nature of the fire departments it could have been much worse," he said.
Coan said it is too early to say what the cause of the fire might be or whether it was intentionally set. He urged anyone with information about the fire to call 1-800-682-9229.
National Grid said it had a crew nearby and was able to quickly turn off gas and electricity in the area.