Massive Fire Destroys Foam Factory In Peabody
PEABODY (CBS) – Crews are searching for the cause of a massive fire at a commercial building in Peabody.
As the black, toxic smoke rolled off into the sky Tuesday afternoon, some Lifoam Industries workers wondered if their jobs might go along with it.
"What are we going to do tomorrow? Come back to work?" asked Mike, a Lifoam employee. "Or go on vacation? It's going to beach weather tomorrow. I'm not ready for beach, I'm ready for work."
Roughly 50 employees were inside the building on 5th Street when flames erupted in the warehouse section of the factory just before 3:30 p.m.
"One of the employees detected the fire at the same time that the alarm was sounding and the sprinkler system was coming on," said Gerry Mata, Operations Manager at Lifoam Industries.
"Fire alarms were going off, I opened the door, saw the fire, turned around, got the hell out," one employee told WBZ.
Thick black smoke greeted firefighters, but inside was an inferno fed by countless pallets of the Styrofoam packing material made at the building.
Concerns about toxic smoke triggered an area evacuation. The fire chief was also quick to pull his crews out of the enormous building amid fears the roof might cave in and that's exactly what happened.
Figuring out what ignited the blaze may not be easy. "We don't know what caused it," Mata said. "We are very happy that everybody is accounted for."
As the hours dragged on and the smoke continued to billow, some Lifoam workers huddled under a nearby tree pondering their future even as a company exec tried to stay positive.
"I'm hopeful that we will rebuild," Mata said.