American Legion hall destroyed in Auburn fire had no sprinklers

March 17-- Mar. 17--AUBURN -- St. Patrick must have been watching over the Chester P. Tuttle American Legion Post 279 building on Friday night.

The 52-year-old lodge hall at 88 Bancroft St. that was destroyed by a three-alarm fire had no sprinkler system, according to Capt. Shawn Steele of the Auburn Fire Rescue Department.

More than 200 people were in the dining room enjoying a Lenten Friday-night fish dinner when one of the diners, an off-duty Auburn firefighter, was asked by staff to examine what seemed to be a hot spot in a kitchen wall, Capt. Steele said.

It only took a minute for the firefighter to determine that everyone should get out of the building, he said.

The fire "had a jump" on fire crews that arrived shortly after 8 p.m., as it had been burning undetected in the attic for some time, Capt. Steele said.

Fifteen minutes after firefighters arrived, the roof collapsed.

Luckily, everyone had left the building, and no injuries were reported, Capt. Steele said.

"Definitely it could have been a lot worse," he said.

Capt. Steele attributed the lack of sprinklers to the age and square footage of the 9,600-square-foot, wood-frame building. He said the building did have a working alarm system.

He said the state fire marshal's office and and the District 7 Fire Investigation Unit were still investigating the cause of the blaze Sunday. The fire is not believed to be suspicious.

Capt. Steele did not disclose the name of the off-duty firefighter whose presence on Friday night helped insure everyone in the first-floor dining room and basement bar got out safely.

Auburn Fire Rescue Chief Stephen M. Coleman said in a press release Saturday: "The fire had been burning for some time in the attic space and was well advanced before anyone in the building knew it.

"With the amount of people in the building at the time of the fire, we are extremely lucky ... that we did not have any serious injuries and that everyone was able to escape the building quickly," the chief said.

Auburn firefighters were assisted Friday by firefighters from Oxford, Millbury, Leicester, Charlton, Webster, Sturbridge and Worcester.

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