FRANKLIN — An overnight fire at an abandoned South Main Street building often used for firefighter training has been ruled suspicious in origin, authorities said.

Hot weather made fighting the one-alarm fire very dangerous and difficult, fire Capt. Bruce Goldthwaite said.

“Grueling hot temperatures that pushed into the morning (caused) extreme fatigue to our personnel,” Goldthwaite said.

The fire at 601 S. Main St. was reported at 3:34 a.m. in a 2½-story building to the south of the city that has been abandoned for many years, authorities said. There was no power to the building, and there have been recent incidents of vandalism and thefts in the structure, which at one time had been an apartment building, said fire Capt. Gary Hicks.

Vandals hit the building last weekend, Hicks said.

“We used to use that building for training, so we've been there a lot,” he said. “There was no power to the building, and it's been a site of some troubles recently, so it's considered suspicious. There's no reason for a fire to have started there.”

The building was fully in flames when firefighters arrived, and the fire wasn't declared under control until 5 a.m., said Goldthwaite.

The building suffered $150,000 in damage and is a complete loss, he said.

The fire was reported by the night supervisor at Webster Valve Co.on South Main Street. Upon arriving, firefighters found the wood frame structure engulfed in flames, and Goldthwaite ordered exterior firefighting operations only.

Crews worked through the morning keep the fire confined to the building, since another abandoned building sits next it. One of the two buildings had recently been cleaned of hazardous waste by the city, Hicks said.

Among the items recently stolen from the property was copper piping, he said.

Fire department personnel were assisted by the Franklin Municipal Services Department and the Franklin Police Department. Firefighters from Tilton-Northfield and Belmont assisted at the scene. Sanbornton firefighters provided station coverage in Franklin.

Anyone with information regarding the fire is asked to call the Franklin Fire Department at 934-2205.

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Dan Seufert may be reached at dseufert@newstote.com.