Massive fire destroys 3-story warehouse in Athol

ATHOL, Mass. -- A massive fire broke out at a warehouse in Athol on Thursday evening.

Fire officials said it took three hours to get the fire under control. More than 100 firefighters and 15 towns were called into assist in fighting the fire.

A call came in around 7 p.m. about the fire, but by the time firefighters arrived, they said the three-story warehouse that spans an entire block was engulfed in flames.

Neighbors said the fire could be seen for miles.

“Easily a hundred-foot-tall pillar of fire,” one man said. “I could feel the heat - like, intense - easily from 100 feet away.”

“The goal, since the building was completely involved, the LP tanks were venting, was to protect the exposures,” one fire official said. “That was the whole goal; the building was gone by the time they got here.”

Fire crews evacuated neighboring homes and businesses fearing that the massive fire would spread to surrounded structures. They were successful in saving those structures, though the flames did cause some damage to the siding of nearby buildings.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries.

The warehouse was an old toy factory that some businesses had been using. Officials were continuing to investigate the cause Friday morning.

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