On Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 22:15 hours, at 1 Hill Ave Braintree, Braintree Firefighters battled a 2nd alarm and tier-1 hazmat fire at Clean Harbors Facility. This building is owned by the environmental and industrial clean-up company which resulted in toxic chemicals being exposed to the air when burned.
It was confirmed that there were multiple trucks that were burned in the fire that contained hazardous chemicals, so authorities warned local residents to try and remain in the safety of their homes and be careful. Braintree Mayor Charles Kokoros stated that the air quality has been relatively normal since the fire as the DFS State HazMat Team and Coast Guard did conduct an air quality monitoring. The Braintree Fire Department and hazmat teams were on the scene and actively investigating the situation.
Thanks to the hard work of the Braintree Firefighters, the fire was successfully put out, and the actual buildings did not suffer from any fire damage, it was just the trucks/trailers. Clean Harbors suspects that the source of the fire came from a chemical reaction sparked unknowingly in one of their parked trailers outside of the facility.
Authorities stated that there were no injuries at the scene, everyone is safe, and the threat has been resolved. The quality of air is going to be continuously monitored for the safety of people who live near the location of the fire. As of right now, there is still an active investigation going on, but there is no new information.
