The Eagle-Tribune
HAVERHILL, Mass. — Four juveniles have been arrested and charged with setting the eight-alarm fire that leveled a vacant mill building at 30 Stevens St. Sunday night.
Two of the juveniles are 15, while the other two are 14 and 16, according to Detective Capt. Robert Pistone, spokesman for the Haverhill Police Department. They will be arraigned in a juvenile session of Lawrence District Court.
Authorities did not release the teenagers’ names, genders or where they live.
The news was announced in a release distributed late Wednesday night.
“This case has come to a swift and successful conclusion because of good old-fashioned police work among a number of agencies and importantly, assistance from the community,” State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan, who investigated the fire along with Haverhill police officers and firefighters and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On Tuesday, Deputy Fire Chief William Laliberty had said that although arson had been considered as a possible cause of the eight-alarm blaze that destroyed the former Hudson Machinery, other causes — including accidental — had not been ruled out.
The fire started at around 5 p.m. Sunday and destroyed the building. A total of 125 firefighters from Haverhill and many surrounding communities spent the entire night wetting down hot spots. No one was injured and the fire was restricted to one building.
“Fighting fires in these vacant mills is extremely dangerous. Without sprinklers to control these fires, they get a huge head start and are fueled by oils that have soaked into the floor boards for decades,” fire Chief Jack Parow said.
Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office will prosecute the four juveniles
A state hazardous material team monitored air quality and water runoff from the massive fire suppression effort.
Mayor James Fiorentini told the City Council this week that 19 departments used 35 pieces of apparatus, which were pumping 8,000 to 10,000 gallons of water a minute to put out the blaze.
“The Haverhill Police Department is very grateful and proud of the dedicated men and women from the various law enforcement and fire agencies that acted as a cohesive team in solving this complex case,” Pistone said.
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