At 6:23 AM a resident walking their dog down Main Street noticed smoke coming from the building at 14 Main Street, which houses Bill’s Pizzeria. They called 911 and Hopkinton Fire responded quickly, with mutual aid from Westborough and Ashland joining shortly after. In total, 17 firefighters were on the scene within minutes.

The smoke was emanating from the wall that faces Hopkinton’s Town Hall. Hopkinton Building Inspector Chuck Kadlik was in his office on the third floor at Town Hall, and heard the 911 call go out over his scanner. He quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran downstairs to battle the blaze.

“Fire was blowing out the wall,” said Lieutenant Scott Jurasek. “Chuck was against the wall when I arrived, and when Billy [Krauss] opened it up, the fire was in there.”

While there’s no good time for a fire, in this case the timing was fortunate: The department just happened to be changing shifts, so there were two Lieutenants on duty and several extra hands. 

Lieutenant Krauss quickly broke out a chainsaw to open up the wall, allowing the crew to extinguish the fire with water. Much of the interior of the building was saved due to the quick work of the first responders. An inspector at the Health Department speculated that the restaurant would remain closed today, but that “after a good cleaning they should be able to open tomorrow”.

“It took us longer to open the walls than it did to put the fire out,” said Fire Chief Gary Daugherty, Jr.

“It was a lot better than it could have been,” said Police Chief Joseph Bennett, who arrived on the scene moments after the action. “The stainless steel on the interior kitchen wall likely limited the damage.”

Hopkinton police had closed part of Main Street and redirected traffic to allow the Fire Department personnel to secure the area. By 7:45 AM the road had been reopened. 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.