The fire, which originated in a third-floor suite, was contained by the building’s sprinkler system.
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The two other businesses in the building are RSK Marble & Granite and Woburn Bottle & Can recycling facility. Areas of the building sustained significant damage, Ring said.
“The fire got up into the roof, so we had to peel back the roof to get at it,” said Ring. “The fire also set off the sprinkler system, so there was a lot of water damage, as well as smoke and fire damage.”
Departments from Winchester, Stoneham, Medford and Arlington provided mutual aid at the scene. The fire was brought under control within about two hours, and crews cleared the scene by 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The State Fire Marshal’s office and the Woburn Fire Cause Determination Unit are conducting the investigation. Traffic along Green Street was disrupted while crews fought the fire.
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“At the press conference after the 2015 debacle, I said had that building had a sprinkler system, there would have been no press conference,” he said.
Nearly eight months before the 2015 fire, Royce Watson bought the building where the fire occurred Tuesday.
“It was a distressed property,” Watson said, “and it had a fairly good price, so that enabled me to update the sprinkler and fire alarm systems.”
The building has four retail units on the ground floor and eight apartments on the upper two floors.
Because the building already had a sprinkler system, he said, he had to either make it operational or remove it. He opted to fix it.
The apartment where the fire broke out sustained some smoke damage and the stove will have to be replaced, he said.
Watson, whose company, Wilcris LLC, owns other rental properties in the region, said the water from the sprinkler went into the unit below — his office — soaking his computer and some paperwork and bills on his desk.
While he said tenants share the responsibility for safety, he said he’s glad the system saved the building and that everyone is OK.
“I can’t thank him enough for his efforts on the sprinkler system,” Nelson said. “That saved the block.”