Damage estimated at $15 million after Cambridge plant fire

The smell of smoke is still strong outside the Waste Management plant in Cambridge. Blackened bits of debris are scattered throughout the parking lot.

Brent Smith, Chief Fire Prevention Officer, says damage is pegged at $15 million:

“They just put $4 million on the roof in solar panels, and apparently, they’re all gone. The machine that was involved in the fire [cost] $1 million, plus the structural damage and loss of production.”

Platoon Chief Martin Mills says officials have a pretty good idea of how the fire started. Smith adds that based on eyewitness accounts, it appears to have spread from a sorting machine.

“It looks like a piece of wood got caught up in the machine, and through friction, started the fire,” says Smith.

Half a dozen workers — still unsure of the plant’s future — stood and chatted in a circle outside the building, waiting for the go-ahead to gather their personal belongings from inside. Many left their vehicles overnight in the parking lot as they fled the flames.

Mills says fire crews are waiting until the structural engineer shows up to tell them whether they can get into the building to take pictures, or whether the building is unsafe and needs to be torn down.

“We have a crew here that’s looking for hot spots,” Smith adds. “If there’s any hot spots from the outside, they’ll fight them. They’re not going to risk their lives to go in there right now, because until we get the structural engineer, it wouldn’t make sense.”