Dateline: Plymouth, MA
Around 9pm on Monday October 4th, a Brockton man set fire to the federal probation office at 116 Long Pond Road in Plymouth – the same building where Creative Resources Group is headquartered. There were no injuries, although the three-alarm fire pretty much destroyed the interior of the probation office and an adjacent law office. Several other professional offices had smoke and water damage.
CRG, however, is located at the back of the building, and sustained no damages whatsoever.
As you may have seen on the news, the alleged arsonist wanted to be jailed, and threatened to set the fire earlier that afternoon. After being released from an evaluation at Jordan Hospital, he purchased about a gallon of gas and a cigarette lighter, returned to the probation office, broke a window, and then used the gas and the lighter to set the fire. When police arrived at the scene, he willingly admitted, “I did this.”
(Source: Wicked Local. Check out the article for all the details)
Though CRG’s offices and studio were undamaged, we were forced to remain closed for about 72 hours after the fire. First, the police were conducting an investigation and wouldn’t let anyone on scene. Then, we had to wait an additional two days for the electric company, who finally turned on the power on Thursday afternoon. Business as usual resumed on Friday, and aside from the grim scene at the front of the building, it was difficult to tell that anything out of the ordinary had happened at all. (Though tragically, the extended power outage ruined 13 yogurts and a quart of half and half.)
Kudos go out to the entire CRG staff, who sprang into action as soon as the power came back on, working feverishly to meet the week’s television, print, and web deadlines. Also, to our clients, many thanks for your patience and understanding during those 72 hours of downtime. A special thanks to Robert Boch of Expressway Toyota, who offered us his conference room and other resources. We all very much appreciate it!