Massive fire burns at former Beckett paper company
5 min read
Massive fire roars for hours at former Beckett paper company in Hamilton
Updated: 10:17 PM EDT Aug 7, 2024
THE WAY WITH BREAKING NEWS. ONE OF HAMILTON’S MOST HISTORIC BUILDINGS DESTROYED THE FORMER BUCKET PAPER COMPANY WENT UP IN FLAMES TONIGHT. AND WHAT REMAINED HAS NOW BEEN DEMOLISHED. THANKS FOR JOINING US HERE AT TEN. I’M CHRIS JACOBS. IT’S THE SECOND TIME THE BUILDING ACTUALLY CAUGHT FIRE. IN RECENT YEARS. IT WAS BACK IN 2015. IT WAS NEARLY BURNT DOWN. WLWT NEWS FIVE’S DAISY KERSHAW JOINING US LIVE FROM HAMILTON WITH MORE ON WHAT CAUSED THIS FIRE. DAISY. WELL, CHRIS, YOU CAN’T EXACTLY SEE IT RIGHT NOW AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE’S A TRAIN PASSING BY, WHICH IS ACTUALLY AN EXAMPLE OF HOW MUCH PROGRESS FIRE CREWS HAVE MADE TODAY. IT WAS SHUT DOWN EARLIER WHILE THEY WERE STILL TRYING TO FIGHT THE FIRE HERE. BUT I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE GOOD NEWS HERE, THERE WERE NO INJURIES, NO FATALITIES AS A RESULT OF THIS FIRE. NOW, STILL, IT WAS A PRETTY HISTORICAL DAY FOR PEOPLE HERE BECAUSE THIS BUILDING HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME. WHEN WE WENT TO SCHOOL, WE GOT OUR PAPER FROM BECKETT AND CHAMPION PAPER, A NEARLY 200 YEAR OLD BUILDING. NOW DESTROYED A PIECE OF HAMILTON HISTORY UP IN FLAMES. WHEN WE WALKED OUT OF OUR HOUSE, YOU COULD IMMEDIATELY FEEL THE HEAT IN YOUR FACE. I’M NOT KIDDING. THE OLD BECKETT PAPER COMPANY BUILDING ON DAYTON STREET CAUGHT FIRE AROUND 430 THIS AFTERNOON. WITHIN FIVE MINUTES, THE BUILDING WAS COMPLETELY ENGULFED. HEAVY SMOKE, HEAVY FLAMES. WE HAD A GREAT RESPONSE FROM OUR EMERGENCY CREWS. THE PAPER COMPANY SHUT DOWN IN 2011 AND THE BUILDING HAS BEEN VACANT EVER SINCE. STILL, IT HOLDS MANY MEMORIES FOR NEIGHBORS IN HAMILTON. I HAD A BROTHER THAT WORKED THERE. I THINK IT WAS EARLY 90S. IT’S A LANDMARK, I WOULD SAY. I MEAN, IT WAS, UH, I SAID, IT’S WHAT, CLOSE TO 170, 175 YEARS OLD. FIRE CREWS WITH THE CITY OF HAMILTON, FAIRFIELD AND LIBERTY TOWNSHIPS ALL JUMPING INTO ACTION, SPENDING HOURS WORKING AT THE SCENE AS MASSIVE PIECES OF THE BUILDING CRUMBLED. DOWN BILLOWING CLOUDS OF SMOKE SEEN RISING FROM THE FLAMES AT POINTS, ASH AND DEBRIS FLOATING THROUGH THE AIR AS DOZENS OF ONLOOKERS WATCHED. THE FIRST THING I DID WAS CALL MY SON IN LAW, WHO LIVES RIGHT BEHIND ME, AND TOLD HIM TO PLUG THE WINDOWS BECAUSE MY GRANDSON HAS ASTHMA. VERY, VERY BAD. SHORTLY AFTER FIREFIGHTERS GOT IT UNDER CONTROL, CREWS CAME IN TO DEMOLISH THE REST. WE’RE FOCUSED ON GETTING THIS DOWN, KEEPING EVERYBODY SAFE. THIS WAS A VACANT BUILDING AND THERE WAS AN ORDER NOT TO ENTER. NOW AGAIN, YOU CAN’T SEE IT. STILL, THE TRAIN IS STILL GOING BY CSX SAYING IT OPENED EARLIER TONIGHT AFTER BEING SHUT DOWN FOR A FEW HOURS. WE DO ALSO KNOW THAT THE CITY STILL OWNS THIS BUILDING. AGAIN. IT’S VACANT. THERE WAS A DEAL THAT BEGAN IN 2021 TO SELL THE STRUCTURE. IT WAS NOT FINALIZED, AND NO WORD YET ON HOW THIS WILL IMPACT THAT MOVING FORWARD
Massive fire roars for hours at former Beckett paper company in Hamilton
Updated: 10:17 PM EDT Aug 7, 2024
Multiple crews responded Wednesday afternoon after a massive fire broke out at an abandoned building in Hamilton.Crews responded to a building at the intersection of Dayton Street and North 5th Street, near downtown Hamilton. The building is the former Beckett Paper Company site. The city confirmed the building is abandoned.The mill’s roots run deep in Hamilton. Opening in 1848, Beckett Mill was the city’s first industry.No injuries were reported from the fire. Wednesday night, crews began the process of demolishing the building after knocking out the flames.CSX trains were stopped while crews worked to put out the fire but have since resumed running.The cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday night. Fire crews with Hamilton, Fairfield and Liberty Township rushed to the scene as pieces of the building crumbled due to the flames.The business closed its doors in 2012, and the building has been vacant since. It was pending a sale, which began in 2021. It caught fire back in 2015. Firefighters were on scene for more than 10 hours. Officials said that the roof collapsed, forcing crews to battle the fire defensively. The fire caused so much smoke that it showed up on the radar.
Multiple crews responded Wednesday afternoon after a massive fire broke out at an abandoned building in Hamilton.
Crews responded to a building at the intersection of Dayton Street and North 5th Street, near downtown Hamilton. The building is the former Beckett Paper Company site. The city confirmed the building is abandoned.
The mill’s roots run deep in Hamilton. Opening in 1848, Beckett Mill was the city’s first industry.
No injuries were reported from the fire. Wednesday night, crews began the process of demolishing the building after knocking out the flames.
CSX trains were stopped while crews worked to put out the fire but have since resumed running.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday night.
Fire crews with Hamilton, Fairfield and Liberty Township rushed to the scene as pieces of the building crumbled due to the flames.
The business closed its doors in 2012, and the building has been vacant since. It was pending a sale, which began in 2021.
It caught fire back in 2015. Firefighters were on scene for more than 10 hours. Officials said that the roof collapsed, forcing crews to battle the fire defensively.
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The fire caused so much smoke that it showed up on the radar.
[twitter align=’center’ id=’1821291938093400461′ username=”AllisonWeather”]https://twitter.com/AllisonWeather/status/1821291938093400461[/twitter]
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