Numerous towns responded to a fire at a 3M facility in Rockland.
Rockland Fire Chief Scott Duffey says they responded after a fire alarm activation at 30 Commerce Road, just before 3 p.m. Thursday.
“While en route, we were updated that there was actually a smoke condition within the facility. On their arrival, Engine 1 under the direction of Lieutenant Charlie Williams, had a heavy smoke condition coming from the roof,” said Duffey. “Further investigation found that there was fire in the facility, within the ductwork, above one of their process lines.”
A working fire assignment was struck, and mutual aid responded from Hanover, Norwell, and Weymouth.
He says this was a difficult fire due to the layout of the facility.
“It’s a chemical company, they mix their own adhesives … they make tape. With just the nature of that, the fire was above one of the adhesive lines. We had the concerns of flammables below us, and then also within the ductwork, they have some different processors in the ductwork to keep it clean, and to keep the environment clean,” said Duffey. “They burn off a lot of the vapor, so we were dealing with high heat, high electricity, so it was very difficult.”
Duffey says the bulk of the fire was knocked down in about 30 minutes.
No injuries were reported, but due to water above electrical equipment, there was extensive damage throughout the facility.
