Shaw’s Supermarket reopens Monday following fire
By Mike BergerShaw’s Supermarket at Cobb’s Corner reopened Monday morning after sustaining heavy smoke and water damage from a fire that broke out in the produce section on Wednesday, September 24.
The fire alarm was activated just after 1 a.m., and the building remained closed for several days as Shaw’s employees worked to remove all food items and clean the store. Fire Chief Charlie Doody has estimated the damage at around $3 million.
At the time of the fire, six to eight employees were working inside the store and all managed to make it out of the building, although one employee was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and later released from the hospital. Twenty-seven firefighters in all worked the scene for four hours, with fire crews coming from Canton, Stoughton, Sharon, Norwood, and Walpole. Firefighters from Westwood, Randolph, and Needham covered the Canton stations.
Doody credited the first responders — Fire Captain Ed Freitas and firefighters Lane MacDonald and Charles Sudhalter — for their quick response to a very dangerous situation. Doody said the fire started in a produce table connected to a refrigeration unit and was determined to be accidental. “There was no warning or hint of this fire happening,” he said.
Doody said Shaw’s had the store fully sprinklered, which helped to contain the damage. He said the big challenge in fighting the fire was the limited visibility due to the large amount of smoke, although firefighters were able to quickly pinpoint the location of the fire with the aid of thermal imaging cameras.
Shaw’s spokesperson Jeff Gulko said associates worked around the clock to get the store back open in four days. The store was cleared for reopening after inspections from the Fire Department, Building Department, and Board of Health.
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Posted by Mike Berger
on Oct 2 2014. Filed under News, Police & Fire.
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