Owners of burned Athol warehouse lacked insurance
ATHOL, Mass. — Flames engulfed an old toy factory in Athol on Thursday night. Investigators are working to determine what caused the blaze.
the warehouse is gone and several homes in the vicinity were damaged by the fire.
“the flames were so intense it looked just like a ball of fire was going to roll down the block and take the whole corner our,” said Chris Colo, who watched the fire.
the warehouse, the former N.D. Cass. Co. building, was reduced to a pile of charred debris. the wooden structure, dating back more than a century, burned to the ground.
over 100 firefighters from more than 12 communities were called in to assist in extinguishing the blaze.
“I knew it was going to go up. Nothing was going to stop it. we just wanted to keep these houses intact, and we did,” said Chief Tom Lozier of the Athol fire Department.
eight houses were damaged by the intense heat. the siding on some melted away.
“It’s killing my stomach,” said Rick Sluder, the building’s owner. “we had a lot of plans for [the building]. I wanted to leave it in the family.”
Rick Sluder recently took ownership of the building from another family member. he said he had no insurance.
“I’m upset about it, but I’m just glad everyone is okay and nobody got hurt,” said Barbara Sluder, building owner.
Officials said the cause of the fire doesn’t appear to be suspicious, but nothing has been ruled out.
<a href="http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12006479141065/owners-of-burned-athol-warehouse-lacked-insurance/tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12006479141065/owners-of-burned-athol-warehouse-lacked-insurance/Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:59:09 GMT”>Owners of burned Athol warehouse lacked insurance
Tags: athol mass, flames, lozier
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