4m 6s: Lenght
7592View

The fire was reported just after 5 p.m. Saturday. Concord Fire Capt. Mark Cotreau said town firefighters were at another call when they received a report of sparking electrical equipment at the farm building on Wheeler Road. By the time they arrived, a third of the building was on fire, forcing the blaze to four alarms, he said. "It was totally an exterior operation," Cotreau said. One firefighter suffered injuries in the blaze. Firefighters continued to fight the fire into the night. They were still dousing the building around 8 p.m., but by then it was charred and had no roof. A fire investigation team was also on scene. Witnesses said they had heard the fire was first noticed around a ceiling fan, but Cotreau said the cause is still under investigation. Candace McDonnell, a farm employee in the deli, said fellow employee Mario Fingers saw flames in the ceiling above the deli and tried to put them out with a fire extinguisher. "Mario was so brave," said McDonnell. "Balls of fire just kept coming down on top of him." The fire finally got to a point where everyone needed to get out of the building, McDonnell said, and employees shouted to tell customers and other employees to leave. "I thank God we all did," she said. Cotreau said the building is in one of the few areas of Concord that does not have fire hydrants every 500 feet. "The hydrants are so far away that we need multiple engine companies," he said. In order to fight the blaze, Lincoln firefighters hooked into a hydrant further down Wheeler Road, while Sudbury firefighters hooked into a hydrant further down Sudbury Road, by Nine Acre Corner. Lines were run down both streets to the scene. "The water supply was established fairly smoothly," Cotreau said, adding that Hanscom Air Force Base sent its water tanker engine to the fire to help. Cotreau said he did not believe the building had a sprinkler system. Firefighters from Concord, Lincoln, Acton, Sudbury, Wayland, Stow, Maynard and Hanscom Air Force base responded to the four-alarm blaze. During the fire, several small propane tanks also exploded inside the building. There were also two larger propane tanks outside, but those had been rolled away from the building, Cotreau said. At one point firefighters were pulled away from the back of the building for safety purposes, he said. Cotreau confirmed that one firefighter, whose town was not named, was injured and taken to Emerson Hospital. The firefighter was conscious and alert when the ambulance left, he said. Employees consoled each other outside, across Wheeler Road from the building, for the duration of the fire. "We just watched it just burn," McDonnell said. Owners Steve and Joan Verrill arrived soon after and joined their employees. The Verrills declined comment. According to its Web site, Verrill Farm consists of about 200 acres in Concord and Sudbury, 100 of which is prime farmland. Steve Verrill's parents moved to Concord in 1918 and started a dairy business. Steve assumed operation of the farm in 1957. "It's a wonderful farm operation. They've been here a long, long time," said Cotreau. "There's going to be a lot missed, but they're going to have a lot of support." Barbara Ramsey and her husband Jim were on their way to the farm to buy dinner for the evening when they saw the flames. It was about 5:15 p.m. when they got there, and the fire engines were just arriving, they said. They stayed to watch. "It's such a friendly, happy place," she said. "We just feel so bad for the family. The Ramseys said they are frequent customers. "We'll be back when they rebuild," Jim said.