One missing after blaze in abandoned Lawrence mill

By Jenara Gardner, Globe Correspondent

A homeless person is missing after a three-alarm fire gutted an abandoned paper mill Friday night in Lawrence.

Firefighters responded to the former Merrimac Paper Co. Mill at approximately 7 p.m,.and were there till early this morning extinguishing the blaze.

No injuries were reported, but vagrants who were squatting in the building told authorities that people were inside when the fire started. And one of the vagrants believed to have been inside is still unaccounted-for, according to Fire Captain Kevin Loughin, the acting deputy fire chief..

Lawrence police are trying to locate the missing person. Damages are estimated to be over $300,000, Loughin said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.