City firefighters confer Monday morning after knocking down a fire on the loading dock of a South Broad Street building . (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – Nobody was injured and damage was limited after a Monday morning fire charred the loading dock, adjacent areas and a trailer parked at a 66 South Broad St. business.
The fire at JC Danczak Inc, which distributes packaging supplies, was reported at 9:19 a.m. and extinguished quickly by the responding firefighters.
“We put some two and a half inch lines on it and knocked it right down” Deputy Fire Chief Pat Kane Sr. said.
Kane said that the fire was investigated with the assistance of an investigator from the Massachusetts Fire Marshal’s office and the cause was determined to be a melted propane line.
Kane said that the company’s operations apparently include recovering and recycling candle wax and a 55-gallon drum of wax was being heated on the loading dock when the barrel overflowed and the molten wax caused the propane line fueling the heater to fail.
The fire resulting from the ruptured gas line ignited a pile of pallets and extended to the door and walls before it was extinguished.
He said that there were several large propane tanks installed in the area but said that the fire was extinguished before they were threatened. He said that eight sprinkler heads were activated by the fire but have already been reset.
Kane estimated of the damage to the building to be $100,000 and the cost to property in the building, including the parked trailer, at $50,000.
