PLAISTOW — A two-alarm fire tore through a commercial building yesterday, destroying a local business.
No one was injured in the fire, which started around 2 p.m. in a long, yellow building that houses nine businesses on Red Oak Drive, Deputy fire Chief John Judson said. The fire began inside Superior Surfaces of New England, which sells concrete overlay products. Two people were working inside when the fire began, and made it out safely, Judson said.
It was not clear yesterday how the fire began or whether it was suspicious, Judson said.
The back wall of the unit was completely destroyed, and the inside of the business was gutted by flames.
"(Superior Surfaces) is totally destroyed, and the ones next to it have smoke and water damage," Judson said.
The business next door, Neighbor's Oil, had two trucks full of oil inside a garage. Quick-thinking owners and employees moved them before they could fuel the blaze.
"That could have been very bad," Judson said.
David A. Jones, of Neighbor's Oil, said he moved the trucks as soon as he heard about the fire.
"We just pulled them out, away from the fire. And then we moved them off-site," he said.
Jones said people in the town quickly notified one another of the blaze.
"Thank God it's a small town, and there are a lot of people who came out and helped," he said.
Chris Cairns, of Robert Cairns Company, also located in the building, said his business did not suffer much damage at all. He praised the responding firefighters for putting out the fire before it spread to other units.
"They deserve a big thumbs-up from us, I can tell you that," he said.
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