Leominster Champion
As a nor’easter raged around them, crews from Leominster and surrounding communities fought a two-alarm fire Monday night into Tuesday morning in a vacant building at the corner of Merriam Avenue and Hale Street.
The first reports of flames at 291 Merriam Ave. came in at around 11:10 p.m. Monday, said Leominster Deputy Fire Chief Steve Rowland. The 2½-story building “appeared to be a vacant house being rehabbed,” Rowland said.
According to Rowland, a second alarm was sounded that brought firefighters from nearby departments, including Fitchburg, Lunenburg, Westminster, Lancaster, Sterling, Princeton, Gardner, Clinton, Shirley and Ayer.
Crews that entered the building were ordered to evacuate because of unstable conditions, but Rowland said “that was only for a short period and then they went back in.”