Tree falling on power lines sparks brush fire near Natick Mall
NATICK – A significant brush fire broke out near the Natick Mall Sunday afternoon.
The fire started burning around 3 p.m. at the back of the mall near Wegman's and the parking lot for the Framingham AMC movie theater. One witness said flames appeared to be about 15 feet high at one point.
"It kept growing. About every minute it doubled in size. The wind was just pushing it," Natick Deputy Fire Chief Victor Lipoma told reporters.
The brush fire in the vicinity of the Natick Mall and the Framingham AMC movie theater has been extinguished. Thank you...
Posted by Natick Fire Department on Sunday, March 26, 2023
An Eversource spokesperson told WBZ-TV a tree fell and brought down power lines "which most likely sparked the fire."
Lipoma said the power pole fell because it was rotting at the bottom. He also said the mall shut the HVAC system down so smoke couldn't get into the air conditioning system. Some businesses lost power briefly including a nearby Ben and Jerrys.
No one was hurt and the fire was out in about an hour.
this just happened at Wegmans Natick pic.twitter.com/Ncj5t2JIuW
— BB (@WilliamBarry12) March 26, 2023
Eversource said about 2,600 customers lost power for about "1-2 minutes."