LAWRENCE, Mass. -- A three alarm fire tore through an abandoned mill in Lawrence Friday night.
The fire broke out at the Merrimack Paper Company shortly after 7 p.m. on Canal Street.
It took firefighters more than three hours to contain the flames. The fire did spread to a second building.
Exploding chemicals shot debris into the sky feeding the blaze. When the roof caved in, the fresh air added to the intensity of the flames.
The building's maintenance worker said homeless people have a history of going into the building. Several times they have had to kick people out, four to five people at a time.
"We got an immediate report of potential for homeless people were in this building. Immediately, we got Lawrence police checked where they had found homeless people before and we were assured that nobody was in that building," said Peter Takvorian, of the Lawrence Fire Department.
At the time of the fire, there was a group of homeless people in the vicinity of the building. Police are questioning these people in regard to the fire. One person is still unaccounted for and police are currently trying to track him down.
The building is a total loss and the city of Lawrence plans to knock the building down as soon as possible.
Fire officials have been unable to determine a cause because the building is not safe to access as of yet. However, due to the circumstances this is being considered an arson or suspicious fire.
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