Massive fire strikes area in Peabody

PEABODY – A general alarm fire in Peabody caused estimated $1 million in damages at a recycling business Sunday afternoon and is expected to burn for several days after its containment.Peabody Fire Chief Steven Pasdon said he expected the fire to be contained by last evening, but that firefighters would work for several days to completely put out the fire because it appears to be burning under “heavy mulch.”Police received a telephone call from a passerby around 3:30 p.m. in the area of Farm Street, behind the Department of Public Services building. Seven to 10 acres of brush were ignited by a large mulch fire which also destroyed two front-end loaders, a wood chipper and a 3,200 gallon fuel tank.?We still have not gotten to the source of that tanker that could be holding 3,200 gallons of diesel,” Pasdon said during an early evening press briefing. “We are keeping everybody away from it, we are wetting it down with water and we are trying to get a hold of the person responsible to tell us how much fuel is in it.”It had been reported that some of the equipment involved in the fire belonged to J.B. Raymond Transportation, Woods Trucking as well as other companies.The two-alarm fire grew to a general alarm fire by 5:20 p.m. largely due to wind and dry conditions. A dozen outside companies worked with the Peabody Fire Department to try to tame the blaze, including Massachusetts Emergency Management Association, the state police, Lynnfield, Swampscott, Marblehead and Salem Fire, Rehab Units and the State Forestry Unit. There were no explosions early on, but Pasdon said units were “bracing for the worst.”?Where we have the fuel tanker and the front-end loaders fueled by diesel, we were concerned about that,” he said. “Might have had a tire or two (explode) but I don?t know of any flammable liquid that ignited at this time.”Fire-suppressing foam was brought to the scene by the Peabody and Danvers departments to douse the fire and smoke could be seen from miles away. One firefighter was transported to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and high blood pressure. There were no other injuries reported at the press briefing.?It could be worse,” Pasdon said. “We have nobody seriously injured, we have no residents threatened, other than the motorists. We?ve taken care of the motorists. This is really a unified command incident.”The fire forced the closure of the ramp from I-95 south to Route 128 north causing traffic to be backed up through Topsfield.