WINCHENDON, MASS. (WHDH) - A massive fire engulfed a vacant factory building in Winchendon Friday morning, forcing people who live nearby out of their homes, according to Winchendon fire officials.
A man who lives behind the building on Lincoln Avenue said his dog started barking early in the morning, alerting him that something was wrong.
“Me and my wife came downstairs startled obviously, and we saw it glowing, smoking, so we called 911 immediately,” said Harley Quigley, who lives behind the building. “It was scary, but I was in fight or flight mode.”
Quigley said he started banging on doors to wake up his neighbors.
Winchendon firefighters arrived, and quickly called in firefighters from other nearby towns, including some from New Hampshire, to help fight the massive flames.
“We did have minimal manpower obviously at the initial attack,” said Winchendon Fire Chief Thomas Smith. “We had three people to start with, but they did a great job.”
Smith said their biggest concern was protecting the homes right behind the old mill. Firefighters evacuated several families as intense heat started damaging their houses.
“Fire didn’t spread, but it had radiant heat to the buildings. Four houses on the back side melted all the siding off the homes,” Smith said.
Quigley said he is just glad he and his neighbors are all unharmed.
“It feels good obviously getting out of there,” Quigley said. “I don’t really have words for that. I do want to thank my dog because he screamed, got us up at the right time and we were able to call 911.”
Flames burned the building down to its frame. Crews said they will use heavy equipment to dig through the rubble and try to piece together what sparked the fire.
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