Investigators are looking for witnesses to a suspected arson after a two-alarm fire broke out at the former Thurgood Marshall Middle School late Tuesday afternoon.
Lynn Fire Captain Joseph Zukas said the department received a 911 call at 3:28 p.m. from a neighbor who reported seeing smoke coming from a third-story window.
When crews arrived at the now-vacant building, they found multiple working fires on all three floors, and a second alarm was quickly struck on the orders of Fire Chief Stephen Archer.
“We’ve been training on this building for years, so we’re familiar with the inside and how big of a structure it is,” Zukas said as he explained the reasoning behind the fire’s two-alarm designation. “It’s a huge building, so obviously if anything ever got going, it would be a very dangerous fire to fight.”
Due to the sporadic nature of the fires and the fact that the building was vacant and all utilities switched off, Zukas said the incident is being investigated as suspected arson.
He added that investigators canvassed the neighborhood Tuesday afternoon to talk to neighbors who may have witnessed suspicious activity before the blaze or who may have video footage on their homes that could help officials piece together what happened.
“It could have been a large fire, so we just want to find out how it started,” Zukas said.
No injuries were reported, and the fire was almost entirely contained by 5 p.m.
