Firefighters Battle 5-Alarm Fire in West Roxbury
Firefighters battled a five-alarm blaze at the intersection of Lagrange and Centre Streets in West Roxbury Wednesday evening amid concerns the old pharmaceutical building contained toxic chemicals. NECN later reported that firefighters ruled out the possibility of hazardous chemicals in the building.
Firefighters sounded a fourth alarm just after 8 p.m., with a fifth sounded at 8:30 p.m.
“This is what we call a posted building,’’ the Boston Fire Department tweeted around 9:15 p.m. “We have identified [the building] as hazardous with no interior firefighting allowed.’’
A later statement clarified that known hazards included the lack of a sprinkler system.
One witness described seeing the back of the building “completely involved’’ with smoke, with the fire reaching the structure’s roof. It was unknown whether any chemicals were present. Charles River Realty had planned to redevelop the old factory into a 62-unit apartment building, but that plan met with fierce neighborhood opposition, according to an April post on UniversalHub.
Fire officials said no injuries were reported at the scene Wednesday night.
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A commuter rail train to Needham was delayed as firefighters tackled the blaze. Bus Routes 36 and 37 also experienced delays.
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