Fall River Fire Destroys Brightman Street Building

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A fire on Fall River's Brightman Street destroyed a vacant building that served as a former theater and casket company on Tuesday.

According to the Fall River Fire Department, crews responded at approximately 5:15 p.m. for a multi-alarm fire at a three-story building at 277 Brightman Street.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene and found all three building stories were on fire.

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According to Fall River Fire Chief Scott Flannery, firefighters were instructed to battle the blaze outside of the building and it took nearly three hours to extinguish the fire.

Dispatchers from the Swansea, Somerset and Tiverton fire departments were on site providing assistance.

Flannery said no one resided inside the building and no firefighters were injured.

The Brightman Street building was built in 1896 as a theater.

The theater had different names, such as the Pastime Theater and the Royal Theater.

The building was also previously used as a flea market, the St.Joseph Church's youth center and basketball court, and as the site of the Pilgrim Casket Company.

The fire department said the building is a "total loss" and will be demolished at a later date.

A house next to the building suffered minor water damage from the fire.

The department said an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.