ORANGE — A week and a half after a suspected arson devastated a former cereal factory and resulted in an old blacksmith shop being demolished, the Selectboard received an update about the site at 16-36 West River St. and the estimated cleanup costs.
Town Administrator Gabriele Voelker and Selectboard Chair Jane Peirce praised the fire personnel and community members who pitched in to help while the June 4 blaze raged and they outlined possible avenues the town can take to acquire the roughly $4 million needed to safely rehabilitate the site. Peirce said 20 departments answered the call.
“They were here so quickly, and set up so quickly,” she said at Wednesday’s meeting, adding that she and Voelker watched the calamity unfold at nearby Riverfront Park. “It was truly astounding to me.”
Three juveniles — whose ages range between 12 and 14 — were identified late on June 6 and face criminal charges in connection with the fire. Their names are not being released due to their ages.
Peirce explained the fire sent embers into the air and at least one landed on the vacant former blacksmith shop near 24 East River St.
“It went up like a pile of sticks,” she said, adding that there was a small brush fire behind the Fire Station at 18 Water St. and a few others throughout town. She mentioned firefighters used municipal water and water from the Millers River, which runs next to the affected buildings.
“Thank goodness we have a river there,” Peirce said.
The vacant structures that sustained damage at 58 and 50 South Main St. are at least partially owned by Joni Shehu of Natick. According to the Orange Assessors Office, 24 East River St. is owned by Adele Madsen, of Pine Street in Gardner, and 16-36 West River St. is owned by Karmacan LLC, of 305 Commandants Way in Chelsea.
Reiterating a point she made to the Greenfield Recorder last week, Peirce said there was asbestos in the former cereal factory’s window glazing, which is now commingled in the structure’s rubble, meaning the whole site is considered contaminated.
In March, the town was forced to close the portion of West River Street from South Main to Pleasant streets because the former factory building was reportedly in imminent danger of failure. Orange was pursuing an emergency court order to tear down the building and had accepted a bid from Bourgeois Wrecking & Excavation, of Westminster. That company has handled the debris cleanup.
Demolition of the building was estimated at $600,000, which was to be offset by up to $300,000 in salvageable material from inside. The cost of cleanup is expected to cost nearly seven times the projected demolition cost.
“The price tag is looking like $4 million,” Voelker said, “and we don’t have $4 million.”
The town administrator explained it cost $73,500 to tear down the burning building. Site cleanup will be broken into two phases, with the first costing $145,000 and lasting three days. Voelker said the first phase involves establishing two wash stations and thoroughly cleaning everything on site and covering the mound of debris with plastic.
The second phase, Voelker explained, is far more expensive. The 7,000 tons of brick on the site must be hauled to a specific facility in Ohio, one 25-ton load at a time. Voelker said there would need to be about 280 truckloads, at $10,105 apiece. This equals $2.8 million, and the rising cost of gas could add as much as $470,000 to this figure.
There are also unknown office expenses and other costs.
Voelker said town officials have been talking with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, state Rep. Susannah Whipps and state Sen. Jo Comerford to try to secure money for the cleanup.
“We’re knocking on every door, turning over every rock to see if we can get funding,” Voelker said. She mentioned grants are possible, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency are unable to assist because the fire is not a federal or state emergency.
“As a town I don’t see how we can pay this bill if we don’t get aid, and our legislators know this,” Voelker said.
She noted the town has tried to contact the factory building’s owner, “but he has disappeared.”
She assured the Selectboard none of the affected buildings have mortgages.
“These buildings get bought as tax write-offs,” she said.
Reach Domenic Poli at: [email protected] or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.
