By Adam Swift
A massive nine-alarm fire at a former industrial warehouse building in Chelsea closed Revere roads for a time on Monday.
The Revere Fire Department was among the nearly 20 neighboring departments that helped knock down the fire.
The fire was reported at 12:30 a.m. on Monday, and emergency response teams, including the Chelsea Fire Department, Police Department, Office of Emergency Management, Water & Sewer Division, Cataldo EMS, and the Massachusetts Port Authority were immediately dispatched to the scene. Additional fire crews from the following communities were called in to support Chelsea’s swift response: Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Everett, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Reading, Somerville, Stoneham, Waltham, Wakefield, Watertown, Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn, and Quincy.
Thanks to a strong coordinated effort, the fire was extinguished at approximately 8 a.m. on Monday, according to a release from the city of Chelsea. The cause of the fire is now under investigation by the Chelsea Fire Department.
The Revere Fire Department crews operated an Aerial Master Stream as well as multiple handlines and BlitzFire Nozzles from across the commuter Rail tracks. Reduced access and water supply as well as multiple collapses hampered the members in fighting the fire, according to the Revere department.
While the fire was extinguished by 8 a.m., nearby schools in Chelsea were closed, as were several roads in Chelsea and Revere near the scene of the Forbes property. Commuter rail service was also shut down for a time in Chelsea past the scene of the fire.
The former mill property has been abandoned since 2009. A private development group out of China, YIHE Forbes, LLC, gained approval for a 590-unit mixed use development on the site, but in early 2023, the city denied an extension of the permit for the delayed project.
City officials have raised safety concerns about the property, and said they have taken significant safety measures at the location. The Chelsea Fire Department and the Police Department’s Downtown Task Force have conducted weekly inspections of the property since spring of 2024.
Earlier this year, the city’s Board of Health City brought the property owner in front of the Chelsea Board of Health, which deemed that, “the buildings and property at the Forbes parcels are unfit for human habitation, pose a nuisance or risk of nuisance, and a risk for accident to the public for purposes of M.G. L. Ch. 111, § 127B” and were ordered to correct multiple violations. The city has continuously tried to engage with the property owner who remains unresponsive, according to Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez.
The property is currently listed for sale and is being listed by the Steve Bremis Realty Group with an asking price of just under $30 million.
