FARMINGTON – Holiday shoppers got an unwelcome interruption this morning, as fire alarms went off in downtown businesses on Main Street.
The alarms were detecting smoke from an apparently malfunctioning furnace below the red-brick “Masonic Block,” which houses Pins & Needles, Twice Sold Tales, Hodgkins Antiques, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other businesses.
Farmington Fire Department, having fought a major fire in a mobile home last night, responded immediately, just after 11 a.m. Once ascertaining the apparent cause of the smoke, they began venting out Twice Sold Tales, a used bookstore, with a large fan. Business owners and customers gathered on the sidewalk as fire crews worked to shut off the alarms.
Personnel on the scene said that the situation was not serious and no lasting damage was expected to result from the furnace malfunction.
