Fire in the Boston Construction Masten Recycling Center “could burn for days,” says Commissioner

A huge fire in a recycling center for construction waste in Boston spread smoke over a large part of the city on Sunday. Fire brigade commissioner Paul Burke said it could “burn for days”.

Boston Fire today

The fire with eight alarm started around 8:30 a.m. in the Roxbury facility resource in Girard Street.

According to Burke, nobody was there at the time and nobody was injured. But 150 firefighters were called because there is so much dangerous material inside and the building was no longer safe.

“It is a bad fire because of the debris there. Building material is very flammable, so it burns pretty well,” Burke told reporters on Sunday. “We don't know what's in this material. There could be lithium batteries. There could be something.”

Burke said the “dangers were unlimited”.

“These stacks, they are so deep and dense that they burn for days,” said the commissioner. “I can't get firefighters to move the stacks with ruins. They would have to do it by hand, and I cannot risk their lives, to do something like this to save an empty building that could easily be replaced.”

A drone was used to get temperature values ​​with a heat camera from the roof to find out where the fire burned inside. Burke said the device couldn't go into the building because it would melt.

Firefighters cut holes in the metal walls to get hoses. The fire did not spread to the building next door. The air quality is also tested in the neighborhood. There were no evacuations, but the commissioner said that someone who lives nearby should close their windows and doors to keep the smoke away.

There is still no word about where or how the fire started.

Burke said the company was shooting through wood, asbestos, wall table and other building materials to separate it before it sends it out to be recycled.

The commissioner said that rain in the forecast on Monday would not help because the roof still expired, so that firefighters “have to go in there at some point”. Burke said a civil engineer would find out when it is certain to go into the building.

The commissioner said everyone who has to drive in the area should avoid it on Sunday and Monday.

“This is devastating”

Sue Sullivan, the managing director of the Newmarket Business Improvement District, said that resource Roxbury has been in the neighborhood for about 10 to 15 years. She called her “great community partners”.

“It looks like a big setback,” she said reporters. “There are not many places where the streaming of recycling waste waste is carried out. If it is down at all, it will be a problem.”

“This is devastating for this company,” said Sullivan. “There will be a big cleanup.”

There was no comment from Roxbury resource yet.