Community rallies around arson victims
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Northborough - Fire Chief David Durgin said he was hopeful an arrest would be made soon of the person or persons who set fire to a building at the Northborough Shopping Center, 243 West Main St., March 25.

The blaze eventually reached five alarms and destroyed five businesses: O'Brien's Five and Ten, Brown's TV & Appliance, Northborough Desi Supermarket, Garabedian Jewelers and Queen Bead and Gifts.

"The investigation is very fluid right now and moving forward," Durgin said. "The Northborough Police and Fire departments, the state Fire Marshal's office and investigators from the Boston office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are making progress in their joint investigation."

Durgin said the fire was officially ruled arson March 28 following investigations of the site and extensive meetings among himself, Northborough Police Chief Mark Leahy, State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan and ATF Special Agent In-Charge Glenn Anderson.

Coan urged anyone who has any knowledge of the origin of the fire or saw or heard anything around the time of the fire to call the arson hotline at 1-800-682-9229.

The arson hotline is part of the arson Watch Reward Program, which is sponsored by the property and casualty insurance companies of Massachusetts. The Arson Watch Rewards Program is off ering a reward of up to $5,000 for any information that helps to solve the crime.

On March 31, a Fire Victims Assistance Meeting was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room at Northborough Town Hall with more than 35 people in attendance, including representatives from all five business aff ected by the fire, seven town officials and all five members of the Board of Selectmen.

Also on hand were State Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester; State Sen. Pamela P. Resor, D-Acton; State Rep. Harold P. Naughton, D-Clinton; Kelly Arvidson of MassDevelopment; Barbara Cliff ord of the Corridor Nine Area Chamber of Commerce; Claire O'Neill of the Mass. Office of Business Development; Brian Sullivan of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency; and Sandra Farrell, one of the owners of the Northborough Shopping Center.

At the meeting, four of the five businesses acknowledged they had insurance and were in the process of filing claims. The owners of the Indian grocery store in the shopping center, the Desi Supermarket - Mohammad Shakir, Mohammad Sajid, Basheer Shakir and Rheena Shakir - were not insured, however.

Mohammad Shakir and Mohammad Sajid indicated they would like to relocate their business to another site in Northborough. Marlborough Savings Bank offered them information regarding special low-interest loans.

Shakir and Sajid moved their business to the Northborough Shopping Center in 2000 from Worcester and in the last year made a $25,000 improvement to their meat-cutting area and $36,000 for a refrigeration system that was installed six days before the fire.

John Coderre, Northborough's Assistant Town Administrator, said the Fire Victims Assistance Meeting was arranged as a way to get all the people and businesses aff ected by the fire, as well as people who may be able to help them put their businesses back together in one room at the same time.

A fund for the fire victims has been launched by the Rotary Club to help the businesses recover financially. Donations can be made to the Northborough Plaza Fire Fund, care of St. Mary's Credit Union, 100 West Main St., Northborough, MA 01532.