On Monday, August 8th at approximately 17:43 Hrs, Lexington Firefighters responded to reports of a building fire. The incident located at 1709 Mass Ave quickly escalated to become a third alarm fire. It was described by those who witnessed it as a “massive explosion.”

The reported fire occurred at the Edison plant (Eversource) located in historic Lexington Center and was triggered by an explosion from a 13,000-14,000 volt electrical transformer. The transformer created a huge fireball that could been seen blocks away from the plant. Due to the intense volume of fire and the extreme heat, 2nd and 3rd alarms were quickly struck bringing additional resources from surrounding communities to assist.

Fire departments part of the MetroFire Mutual aid system responded including Arlington, Waltham, Burlington, Belmont, Bedford, Concord, Woburn, Weston and Hanscom AFB.

Special requests were made by Command on scene to have Cambridge Fire as well as Massport Fire respond with foam units due to the nature of the fire. The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services responded as well to provide rehab support along with Cataldo’s Tango 2 Rehab Unit and the Boston Sparks A10 & A11 Rehab Support Units.

For those who live and work in the area the sudden explosion was extremely frightening. Damage of the building is being assessed, and the necessary repairs that are needed will be made.

Luckily no one was injured or in need of transport in the aftermath of this event. By 11pm the fire was put out and the scene was cleared of all personnel.

At this time fire investigators are looking into the incident, as well as Eversource who remained on scene until late in the night trying to debunk the root of the problem. We do not have any further information at this time as the explosion is still under review.

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