This mattress warehouse fire in Milford drew response from 11 departments

MILFORD — Firefighters from 11 departments spent several hours on Thursday evening fighting a smoky fire at an Industrial Road mattress recycling facility.

No one was injured in the fire at Green Mattress Recycling, 12 Industrial Road, but some firefighters were on the scene for as long as 9½ hours, Deputy Fire Chief Michael DeTore said.

Firefighters responded to the facility at 6 p.m. after employees from an adjacent Amazon facility reported smoke coming from the mattress recycler. When firefighters arrived, there was heavy smoke and access to the building was a challenge, the deputy said.

"They had several doors on the loading dock blocked by trucks," DeTore said. "It was hard to maneuver around."

Once inside, firefighters discovered what appeared to be a fire that started smoldering in mattress material. DeTore said there was foam, wood, cloth and other materials in the building, some of which was in tight bales, which also made it difficult.

"We had both a fire and a smolder going on," said DeTore. "The bales were smoldering and they were packed so tight, it was hard to get water to penetrate it. The sprinklers were handling the flames OK, but they couldn't get into the bales. The smoke ... the smoke just kept filling the building."

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Due to the amount of smoke and flammable materials, Milford called for a third alarm.

That brought firefighters from Ashland, Bellingham, Franklin, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Mendon, Medway, Sutton, Upton and Westborough to the scene.

Firefighters had to open holes on the roof to help ventilate the recycling facility. They also had to help ventilate surrounding businesses, including Amazon, DeTore said.

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At one point, the bales of mattress material had to be dragged outside and broken up so that firefighters could spray the inner material with water and stop it from smoldering, DeTore said.

DeTore estimated the fire may have caused more than $100,000 worth of damage, mainly from smoke.

In a statement, Green Mattress President Adam Doorly, thanked the work of the firefighters in containing the fire.

"We are incredibly grateful for the quick response of the Milford Fire Department and the surrounding communities' fire departments that worked tirelessly to handle the smoke last night at our facility," he said. "Most importantly, no one was injured as our offices were closed for the day. Safety is a critical part of Green Mattress operations. While adverse events do happen, they are planned for, as the wellbeing of our team and the facility are of critical importance."

Green Mattress was closed on Friday due to the incident, but hopes to reopen next week.

"The fire investigation will continue today to determine the cause of the smoke, but we believe at this time it was isolated to only one small part of the facility," Doorly said in the statement. "We believe our ongoing operating efforts were a critical factor in isolating any damages. Due to the thorough work of the local Fire Departments, we hope to spend the necessary time to clean up the facility and resume business as usual early next week."

The cause is not known, but does not appear to be suspicious, the deputy said. The fire is being investigated by the Milford Fire and Police departments, as well as the state Fire Marshal's Office.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Milford fire in mattress warehouse draws response from 11 departments