News Nearby: Wilmington Family Seeks Answers Years After Deadly Fire

Each Sunday, Reading-North Reading Patch will run a round-up with links to stories from surrounding communities that are of interest to local residents.

Landers Family Seeks Answers Years After Deadly Fire: WILMINGTON--Forty-three years after a devastating fire that killed six members of the Wilmington family, the Landers are seeking answers as they hope to prove the deadly blaze was intentionally set.

A fire on September 26, 1969, was ruled electrical in nature, a common classification during that time period. However, rumors flew around town in the weeks following the tragedy that a local man bragged to friends that he had started the fire. He was rumored to have been brought in for questioning at the time, but no charges resulted.

“There isn’t much as far as evidence goes, so it has been hard,” said Fire Chief Ed Bradbury. “As far as I am concerned, this is still an open case. There is enough of what I have heard and the limited amount that I’ve seen that I have doubts if it was accidental.”

MWRA to Remove Rocks from Water Tank Site in Late September: STONEHAM-- With excavation planned through the end of the year at the Spot Pond water tank site, rock removal is expected to begin in late September, according to a Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) spokeswoman.

"...We have removed about 150,000 cubic yards of excavated material out of a total of 190,000 cubic yards," said Ria Convery, a spokeswoman for MWRA, adding that the number of trucks at the site varies from zero to 10, with each making three trips. "Rock removal is scheduled to start (at the) end of September and continue in October."

The project is expected to require "considerable excavation" for six to eight months during the hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to a MWRA statement