Vacant Gardner building damaged by fire

GARDNER Firefighters from Gardner and three neighboring towns fought a two-alarm blaze in a vacant building into the wee hours of the morning Wednesday.

Shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters were dispatched to a building fire at 163-165 Pine St., according to Fire Lt. Craig Osowski.

"Upon arrival, we found fire showing out of the basement in the rear of the building, extending all three floors on the porches," Lt. Osowski said. "All the fire was contained to the basement and the rear porches. The rest of the building received smoke damage."

A second alarm was immediately struck, bringing in mutual aid from Westminster, Winchendon and Hubbardston, Lt. Osowski said.

Because of the lay of the land, Lt. Osowski said, the residential building is two stories in the front and four in the back.

Lt. Osowski said firefighters had to deal with a steep hill to get to the back, as well as 3 feet of snow, to gain access. The last firetruck left the site at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Lt. Osowski said the fire is under investigation; firefighters do not believe the fire was caused intentionally. There were no injuries, he said.

Contact Craig S. Semon at craig.semon@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @CraigSemon

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Vacant Gardner building damaged by fire