Tree falling on power lines sparks brush fire near Natick Mall
NATICK – A significant brush fire broke out near the Natick Mall Sunday afternoon.
The fire started burning around 3 p.m. at the back of the mall near Wegman's and the parking lot for the Framingham AMC movie theater. One witness said flames appeared to be about 15 feet high at one point.
"It kept growing. About every minute it doubled in size. The wind was just pushing it," Natick Deputy Fire Chief Victor Lipoma told reporters.
An Eversource spokesperson told WBZ-TV a tree fell and brought down power lines "which most likely sparked the fire."
Lipoma said the power pole fell because it was rotting at the bottom. He also said the mall shut the HVAC system down so smoke couldn't get into the air conditioning system. Some businesses lost power briefly including a nearby Ben and Jerrys.
No one was hurt and the fire was out in about an hour.
Eversource said about 2,600 customers lost power for about "1-2 minutes."
