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Short circuit seen as cause in DeLuca's fire

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 20, 2010 01:50 PM

By Andrew Ryan and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The recent fire at a landmark market on Beacon Hill was caused by an electrical short circuit, fire investigators have found.

The short circuit occurred in the basement of DeLuca's market, which has operated since 1905, said Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

MacDonald said that an electrician had done work in the basement earlier that day after an electrical problem was reported.

Because of the extensive damage in the basement, investigators couldn't tell whether the electrician's work had played a role in the fire, he said.

"We don't know if it was related. We do know it was electrical," he said.

The four-alarm blaze July 8 at the market on Charles Street caused an estimated $1 million in damage. A teenager who worked at the market told the Globe the day of the fire that he was working in the basement when he heard a popping sound and saw a "big flash of orange light."

An Ohio fire chief who happened to be buying a bottle of water at the market when the fire broke out also said he immediately identified it as an electrical fire.