Abandoned Peabody gas station goes up in flames

PEABODY – Homeless people seeking relief from frigid temperatures Monday might be the cause of a two-alarm fire at an abandoned gas station that sent flames shooting over 40 feet into the air.The fire was already protruding through the roof of the old Citgo at the corner of Main and Howley streets when firefighters got to the scene at about 5:45 p.m. The fire was officially knocked down just after 8 p.m. but some firefighters stayed on later to battle hot spots.No one was injured.According to Fire Chief Steve Padson, much of the blaze was contained to an adjoining garage where there has been an ongoing “homeless issue.””It really looks like it started on the inside [of the garage] but it’s too early to tell,” Padson said.Padson and several witnesses estimate the gas station has been abandoned for over 10 years.Mutual aid from Beverly and Salem was called in after the fire quickly reached two alarms.An issue with a broken fire hydrant caused a minor delay but didn’t affect the overall operation, according to Padson.”They did a fabulous job,” he said.Some bystanders were concerned about the fire reaching hazardous materials inside the gas station.”The scary part is this used to be a gas station and I’m not sure it there are any tanks still here,” said witness Laurie Vanlon of Salem.Padson said firefighters discovered acetylene tanks inside the building but the fire didn’t spread to them.He said the gas station was recently inspected and most of the hazardous materials were removed.”I know we’ve been doing a lot of inspections on this place,” Padson said. “[The acetylene tanks] should have been out of there. But a lot of it has been cleaned out.”Rhonda McKinnon, an employee of McDonald’s restaurant across the street, said she often sees the homeless frequenting the gas station.”I don’t know all of their names, but I see them come into McDonald’s a lot,” McKinnon said. “There are a lot of homeless people around here, but I don’t want to point any fingers.”Capt. Jay Dowling said firefighters responded behind the gas station this past Friday after homeless people lit a fire in a trash barrel.”It’s something we’ve known about,” Dowling said.Nobody was on the property when firefighters first arrived to put out the blaze, Dowling said.McKinnon, who said she was a victim of a house fire on Buxton Street that killed three of her cats 11 years ago, felt sorrow and concern for the homeless she often sees behind the building trying to keep warm.”I said, ‘Something is going to happen one of these days. With the gas lines here the whole street is going to go up [in flames],'” McKinnon said. “The poor things probably had nowhere to go. I’m glad nobody was hurt.”Police closed Main Street between Washington Street and Aborn Street, just over the Salem city line. Partial traffic was allowed through around 8 p.m. and parts of the road were still closed as of press time. Traffic was gridlocked on surrounding side streets during the height of the fire.