Mail truck totaled in Milford fire; several pieces of mail are damaged
MILFORD — A mail truck was destroyed Thursday by a heavy fire of unknown cause that also damaged a large amount of mail, authorities said.
No one was injured in the 12:20 p.m. fire on Sidney Street, but the truck is a total loss, Fire Chief Mark Nelson said.
“It’s not salvageable,” the chief said. “It doesn’t have a roof. It doesn’t have a cab. It maybe has one corner panel left. The top half of the truck is gone.”
Support local journalism: Subscribe to metrowestdailynews.com today for $1 for 6 months
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and no one was injured. However, firefighters had to remain at the scene for “quite some time” to work with the U.S. Postal Service to figure out what to do with mail that wasn’t destroyed.
“We had quite a bit of paper left in the truck, and we didn’t want it to blow away as it was being towed,” Nelson said.
Firefighters picked up mail that was on the ground, then put a tarp over the top of the mail truck before it was towed, to secure the mail that was still inside. The Postal Service was to take custody of the mail, Nelson said.
Nelson said the fire was accidental, although its cause may never be known due to the amount of damage.
Milford Postmaster Mark Risio referred calls to the United States Postal Service’s Boston communications department, which could not be reached by print deadline.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.
This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Postal service truck, several pieces of mail destroyed by fire in Milford MA
