A fire broke out on the afternoon of Saturday, July 11, 1981, at the former Plimpton Press building located on Guild Street in Norwood.

The blaze reportedly ignited outside the structure near the railroad tracks and spread into the building’s interior. Fire department officials reported that approximately $2,000 in damage was sustained by the building itself, primarily due to water discharge after two sprinklers were triggered by the heat.

While the exterior damage was assessed quickly, officials stated that it would take several days to determine the full extent of the destruction inside the historic facility. The cause of the fire remained under investigation by the Norwood Fire Department.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger

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