Local News

Fire at South Station Tower halts construction for second time in weeks

OSHA is still investigating an incident when a steel beam plummeted more than 20 stories at the construction site in March.

The Boston Fire Department was on scene of a fire at the South Station Tower . Firefighters worked to put out construction material fire on the ninth floor. Jonathan Wiggs

By Emily Spatz

2 minutes to read

A fire broke out Tuesday at the South Station Tower construction site in downtown Boston, halting work on the 51-story-building for the second time in the past month. 

Suffolk Construction, the company leading the project, said in a statement the fire broke out in the morning and was caused by union workers from James F. Stearns Co. who were welding steel.

“Fire watchers were on the jobsite and responded to the fire, and the fire was immediately extinguished,” the company said in the statement.

The Boston Fire Department said the fire broke out on the outside deck of the ninth floor of the building, which is located at 700 Atlantic Ave. No injuries were reported, Suffolk and the fire department both said. 

The MBTA said Commuter Rail service and the Red Line and Silver Line were not impacted by the fire, but bus routes 7 and 11 were detoured. The buses were no longer detoured and the Boston Fire Department was clearing the scene at about 10:30 a.m., the agency said in a post on X.

Suffolk Construction said in its statement that construction on the site would be halted for a safety audit.

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“Suffolk unilaterally announced a safety stand down for all workers on the South Station project and has voluntarily shut down the job site for a comprehensive job site safety audit,” the company said.

The shut down comes weeks after a steel beam plummeted more than 20 stories at the construction site March 20, breaking several windows and becoming lodged in the roof of the South Station commuter rail platform. The MBTA asked the company to halt construction “immediately” after the incident, and work was resumed a few days later, The Boston Globe reported. 

The investigation into the March incident is still ongoing, a spokesperson for OSHA told the Globe. 

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Suffolk scheduled a meeting Tuesday afternoon with the union, subcontractor, and Suffolk leadership to emphasize the importance of safety, according to the statement. Union leaders and subcontractors will have to walk the jobsite with a Suffolk representative and personnel will be “required to reconfirm their commitment to following all safety protocols,” the company said. 

“Safety remains Suffolk’s number one priority and we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure the union trades follow our strict safety protocols on South Station and all Suffolk jobsites,” the company said.  

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