Taunton City Hall Closed After Blaze

City Hall in Taunton remains closed as officials clean up from and investigate a fire that broke out in the historic building.

No one was injured in the four-alarm blaze that was believed to have started on Tuesday morning in a records room at the building, which dates back to the 1840s.

Mayor Charles Crowley says he expects City Hall will be closed for several days.

"We've had the Mass. State Archives here looking at some of the records that were destroyed," Crowley said. "We're trying to get the electricity back into the building because about three-fourths of the building received smoke damage."

Makeshift offices are being set up at a former elementary school but the mayor is asking residents who have business with the city to expect delays.

"We're looking to be able to provide a majority of the services from those offices because we have the databases and everything else are still intact, even at a remote location," he said.

Crowley told reporters that he considered the fire suspicious, though the city's fire chief said there was no immediate evidence of accelerants.