It’s not over yet.
The city’s corporation counsel is scheduled to meet with the property owners of the Coughlin School today, after the vacant school was ravaged in a five-alarm fire early Saturday morning.
The city had signed a purchase and sale agreement for the property in November of 2014, but the actual closing has not yet taken place. Attorney Joseph Macy continues to review the agreement at City Hall, and plans to meet with the buyer later today to review how the fire may affect the terms of the sale.
The 1890’s-era brick building is standing after the fire, which started on the second floor early Saturday morning, and is fully insured; however, damage was extensive.
Fire department officials are treated the blaze as arson and continue to investigate.
Meanwhile, Mayor Sam Sutter made an announcement shortly after learning about the blaze. Here is the statement he has released.
“First and foremost, we are fortunate that no one was injured. A fire like this one in a very densely populated area is extremely dangerous. Our fire department, as usual, did a great job. And on behalf of the city, I would like to express my profound thanks to them. I also must say that this is a very sad day for our city because we have lost a large part of a historical treasure. Coughlin School was in operation for over 110 years, and it was a classic neighborhood school filled with memories and dreams. I spent time at the scene and spoke at length with Fire Chief Robert Viveiros and Police Chief Dan Racine, and we are all, together, firmly resolved to getting to the bottom of what happened.”
Windows are boarded up at the school, fire debris is still left, and Fall River police will continue to monitor activity at the property.
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