LEBANON — An early morning fire destroyed one of three office buildings at Wheeler Professional Park on Route 10, near the Hanover town line, according to Lebanon Fire Department Chief James Wheatley.
The fire, reported at about 4:25 a.m. Wednesday by “a property maintenance company that was doing work in the area,” led to a multi-department response and a defensive firefighting operation because of the building’s structural instability, Wheatley said at the scene later Wednesday morning. No injuries were reported, and nearby buildings were not damaged, according to Wheatley.
Firefighters arrived within minutes of the report to find Building 2 “fully involved,” Wheatley said. “It had a pretty good head start,” he said.
The incident escalated quickly to second-alarm status, and fire departments from Enfield, Plainfield and Canaan arrived to provide coverage at Lebanon stations, Wheatley said. Hanover, Hartford and Windsor fire departments assisted at the fire scene as Lebanon crews worked to contain the flames.
Wheatley said firefighters conducted a “defensive operation,” meaning crews did not enter the building because there was too much fire and too much structural instability. “We were under control in about 40 minutes,” he said.
Wheatley said the building that burned did not have an automated fire alarm system or sprinkler system. In a caption provided with a Lebanon Fire Department photo, the department said the building was unoccupied.
The cause of the fire remains undetermined and is under investigation by the Lebanon Fire Department, according to Wheatley. “It’s nothing suspicious,” he said. “It’s going to take a little bit before we come up with anything because of the extent of the damage.”
Building 2, which was destroyed, is 7,532 square feet, according to the article. The other two buildings in Wheeler Professional Park are of similar size. The professional park as a whole is assessed at $2.1 million, according to city property records.
The Wheeler Park Professional directory lists the following businesses associated with Building 2: Dr. Alvarenga, Hodgdon, Eco Light, Inc., Wagner Law PLLC, New Hope North LLC, CSN/DCI and the Richards Group.
Mike Squires, identified in the article as the Richards Group’s IT and maintenance manager, was at the scene about five hours after the blaze to assess the damage, but he declined to comment.
Jeremy Katz, identified as the manager of Wheeler Park for 17 years, also declined to comment when reached by phone, saying, “I’m glad that everyone’s OK.”
Nearby residents also responded to the fire and its immediate impacts. Sarah True, who the article said has lived on Oak Ridge Road for 11 years, went to the scene around 9 a.m. with her 4-year-old son. True said she received a “notice that the road was closed for a fire” at about 6 a.m. She said that by 8 a.m. her husband was able to get out and tell the family “where the fire was and that there was smoke still coming out but that traffic was allowed through there.”
True said she hoped the damage was limited. “We do care about our neighbors, even though this is the commercial park; this is not our residential neighbors,” she said. “They’re still our neighbors.” The fire occurred in the same general area that would be served by Dartmouth’s proposed West Lebanon shuttle expansion.
The Lebanon Fire Department’s investigation into the cause of the fire was continuing, according to Wheatley.
