Fire Department Knocks Down Chemical Fire on Sohier Road

Beverly firefighters responded to a fire in an outside chemical storage unit on Sohier Road Wednesday morning.

Beverly Fire Captain Chris Halloran said units responded to 150 Sohier Road at about 8:30 a.m. for the one-alarm working fire.

"When you're dealing with any chemicals, you don't want to make any quick moves," Halloran said. "We proceeded with the utmost caution."

The chemical in the unit was a sodium permanganate, which Halloran said is an oxidizer that can explode.

The department initially tried to use an outside hookup to the commercial building's interior piping system, using a 2 1/2 inch line to flood the storage unit.

"Unfortunately that did not work because something was wrong with the piping system," Halloran said. "So, we gained entry and three attacked it to put it out." 

Investigators remain on scene to detemine the cause of the fire.

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