WATERBURY - Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire that swept through an abandoned factory in Waterbury and burned for more than 24 hours.
Fire fighters responded to a two-alarm fire at the former Bristol Co. factory building on Bristol Avenue Thursday night and remained on the scene through the day Friday.
Crews responded to fire at the 310,000 sq ft. building around 9 p.m. Thursday.
Fire Chief David Martin says firefighters couldn't be sent into the building because the floors in the five story were destroyed and walls were left vulnerable to collapse.
"The bottom line: There was no way we were putting our members in that giant building" said Waterbury Fire Chief David Martin.
Martin said crews in ladder trucks were attacking it from the outside and said they made good progress. As of Friday afternoon, Martin said the fire was 90 percent contained.
The building which dates to the 19th century and produced instruments that measured electricity, heat and liquid volume.
Martin said the fire could be suspicious. "These buildings attract vagrant activity, many times it is accidental on their part, not necessarily intentionally set, but certainly its a fire lit in some capacity."
City officials say the vacant factory building has been the source of numerous complaints over the years from residents nearby.
"Whether it's folks squatting on the property, people dumping all sorts of appliances, brush, just general waste," said Joe Geary, the chief of staff for the City of Waterbury.
The five-story mill building is the former home of The Bristol Company, a steel instruments company, but it has been abandoned for anywhere between 20 and 30 years. See the building from May 2012 on Google Street View here.
Smoke from the fire could be seen from miles away. Many residents living nearby the old factory building lost power until early Friday morning.
"Most of it was engulfed in flames. It was pretty crazy," said Ashley Caverly of Waterbury, who lives across the street from the factory.
There are not reports of injuries.
Asbestos may be in the pipes and floor tiling. A 1993 inspection showed the property's soil may contain PCBs, cadmium, chromium, copper and lead. Groundwater also is suspected to be contaminated.
Officials say there is no reason to believe the factory fire would produce any more harmful toxins than produced from a regular fire.
Waterbury City officials are planning to reach out to the building's owner to determine the course of action going forward-- including a possible demolition.
Once crews have contained the fire, an environmental cleanup effort will take place on the site.
City officials estimate this could cost several million dollars, and could ask for state assistance or federal assistance from the EPA.
"These things aren't cheap. They're on the expensive side," said Geary.
In April 2012, a fire at the abandoned Nova Dye and Print factory on Mill Street caught fire and burned for 4-5 days.
The city filed a $4.4 million lawsuit against the factory's owners to reimburse it for the cost of fighting the fire, demolition costs, overdue taxes and environmental cleanup.
