Fire damages New Bedford food warehouse

Several tractor trailers caught fire at a specialty food distribution company Tuesday morning.New Bedford Fire Department (custom credit)/New Bedford Fire Department

A 3-alarm fire in New Bedford damaged a food distribution warehouse along with several tractor trailer units parked outside of it early Tuesday, officials said.

The fire broke out at the Sid Wainer & Co. warehouse and distribution company at 2301 Purchase St. shortly before 12:30 a.m., New Bedford Deputy Fire Chief Scott Kruger said.

Wainer is a family owned specialty foods business, according to the company’s website. Kruger said the fire likely started in the loading dock of the building.

“It was a wind driven fire, since it was really windy here last night. Really steep winds were coming out of the northwest,” Kruger said. “Some of the tractor trailers were parked pretty close together and had already burned down when we got there, and it only took us four minutes to get there."

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the loading dock, Kruger said.

Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state fire marshal’s office, said five tractors and six trailers were damaged in the blaze, and the building sustained extensive smoke damage and some fire damage.

Some inventory was damaged by smoke. Kruger estimated the damages to cost several million dollars.

Two firefighters were treated at the scene for non-life threatening injuries, Kruger said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The company said it will start running out of a satellite facility Tuesday evening “with a limited SKU base" for delivery Wednesday.

“We will continue to ramp up to our normal product offering this week,” the company said. “We were there for you yesterday, we are here for you today, and tomorrow will not be any different.”

Wainer hosted a food distribution pop-up for area residents this past Saturday, according to the company’s Facebook account.

“During these challenging times, we must stick together and provide support to stay healthy, eat well, and be well,” the company posted on its Facebook account last weekend. “We invite all of our community to come and stock up on vegetables, juice, and dairy.”