A quick moving 3 alarm fire destroyed three businesses last night at 309-313 Main Street in Watertown.
The fire was reported by a tow truck driver about 9:33pm reporting heavy smoke coming from the building which housed Lony Salon, Guy's Hair Shop and Pan World Insurance. A fourth business, Inner Strength Yoga, was attached to the building but did not appear to suffer any fire damage due to a fire wall according to Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio.
A 2nd alarm was called on arrival and firefighters began an interior attack, finding fire in the ceilings which had multiple levels. As firefighters progressed further inside, an explosion occurred knocking them over and causing one firefighter to sustain a shoulder injury.
A third alarm was transmitted bringing additional manpower to the scene as firefighters went into a defense outside fire attack.
Three ladder pipes were put into operation as well as several handlines which were used to knock down heavy fire that was breaking through the roof and also dropping into the main floor of the businesses.
The majority of the heavy fire was controlled within about 90 minutes but firefighters remained on scene throughout the night wetting down hot spots to prevent a rekindle.
Firefighters from Newton, Belmont, Boston and Waltham assisted at the fire scene and additional mutual aid was called in to cover empty Watertown fire stations.
This morning, as business owners were on scene surveying the damage, investigators from the State Fire Marshal's officer along with Watertown police and fire investigators were trying to determine the cause of the fire.
The businesses are considered a total loss and damage estimates are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Comments