Greenfield House Fire Being Treated as Arson

A house fire that made a mess of the morning commute on Interstate 894 on Tuesday morning is being treated as arson, according the Greenfield Police Department.

The building was vacant and no injuries have been reported.

The building, in the 4300 block of Loomis Road – the first building on the east side of the road just north of the 894 overpass – was the site of a suspicious fire Saturday that the Greenfield Police Department is investigating as arson as well.

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This morning, the Greenfield Fire Department received a report of smoke and flames coming from the same building at 5:31 a.m.

Interim Fire Chief Jon Cohn said his crews had a plan for the building before arriving.

“With the past suspicious activity we had here, if there was no life hazard we weren’t going to make entry because it would have been dangerous to our personnel because of the integrity of the structure,” he said.

The department took what Cohn called defensive operations from the exterior of the structure, containing the blaze without entering the building. Once that was done, the city’s Division of Public Works brought in a large piece of machinery and razed the building while it was still on fire.

Fire crews were still working on the structure, or what remained of it, as of 8:30 a.m.

“We decided we’d only go in if there was a life-saving risk, which we determined there was none,” Cohn said.

Interim Police Chief Brad Wentlandt said today’s fire would be treated as arson as well.

“We’re very confident that whoever went in and started the fire this morning went to extreme lengths to get in because the building was boarded up with boards that were screwed in,” Wentlandt said.

The property had been vacant for several years and was slated for demolition, according to Wentlandt. He said investigators had some leads regarding Saturday’s fire.

“This morning’s fire is of suspicious origin as well,” he said. “A building that is boarded up doesn’t usually burst into flames by itself. We’re certainly treating this as an arson as well.”

The fire caused quite a traffic headache for morning commuters. Loomis Road is the only detour route for those headed to 94 eastbound, but traffic was not allowed to go east on Loomis toward downtown.

Members of the Greenfield Police Department set up barricades and diverted traffic away from the fire.