CLAREMONT — A structure fire at a former trash-to-energy incinerator over the weekend is believed to be suspicious, according to city fire officials.

Claremont firefighters responded on Sunday, just after midnight, to a “heavy fire” in the offices of the former Wheelabrator facility at 145 Grissom Lane. Fire crews extinguished the fire and reported it under control at 1:55 a.m., a press release stated. 

Five offices and an adjoining hallway suffered extensive fire and heat damage, though no injuries to fire crews were reported, Claremont Fire Investigator William Hardy in a phone interview. 

The facility has been vacant for several years and the utility services have been shut off.

“There was no reason for a fire to start where it did,” Hardy said about the suspicious cause. 

Wheelabrator Technologies closed in 2013 after 26 years of operation. Prior to its shutdown, the facility was burning about 200 tons of trash a day to convert into energy that was sold to the power grid. The plant was sold in 2017 for $37,000 to Power Investment LLC, a Farmington, N.H.-based energy company. The new owners also purchased an adjacent 20-acre parcel in 2021 but have not reopened the incinerator. 

City fire officials are investigating the fire in collaborating with the Claremont Police Department and the state Fire Marshal’s office. Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact Lt. Hardy at 603-542-5156.