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The Case of the "Shadowy
Figure"
Many readers will remember a horrendous fire
occurring at the Malden Mills fleece fabrication
plant in Malden, Mass. The fire happened on or
about Christmas Eve and temperatures were so
severe that water hydrants and fire hoses froze.
The six to seven story building, was an old "mill
factory" with floors and walls soaked with any and
all types of fluids. The inability of the firemen
to have a reliable water source played a major
role. The fire started on the first floor and the
building burned to the ground as floor after floor
collapsed on the lower floors and equipment below.
The ice was so heavy and the fire debris was so
deep (50-75 feet) that the site had to be
"secured" until everything thawed the following
spring.
During the investigation, a parking lot security
camera pointed toward the back of the building,
revealed a "shadowy figure" quickly walking from
the rear of the plant across a driveway. Several seconds later, a flash documented the
initial explosion in or near the boiler room (at the
rear of the plant).
Since there were rumors of labor unrest, it was a
concern that the explosion may have been a human
initiated event. The remaining plant site debris,
several years later, is shown in Photographs A, B,
and C below.
Photograph A
Photograph B
Photograph C
The owner, a very generous, benevolent man,
quickly announced that since it was Christmas, the
workers' salaries and benefits would be continued
while the plant was rebuilt.
The wreckage was cleared, much litigation ensued,
and eventually a pipe which was rumored to have been
found with a loose fitting (coupling) was available
for metallurgical investigation.
Evidence, which was deemed possibly important (no
one wanted to be blamed for throwing ANYTHING away)
was marked, mapped, and stored in a furniture warehouse
for analysis. A view of one of five major storage
areas is shown in Photograph D.
Photograph D
Finally, the subject gas line and connections
were identified, found and unwrapped. An overall
view of the subject gas line nipple is shown in
Photograph E.
Photograph E
Visual examination and macrophotography of the
subject gas pipe was conducted. The subject gas line
was found beneath literally tons of debris and yet
the gas line nipple threads were undamaged (as if
the connection had indeed been loosened, i.e., there
was no thread deformation at the end of the threaded
nipple).
However, as these matters often go, the litigants
became entrapped in their own webs and a bankruptcy
judge resolved the whole matter without further
metallurgical investigation. The question of the
"shadowy figure" was never resolved!
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