Hot On the Press

By: Jim Rosenberg Shortly before midnight Tuesday, a press at The Boston Globe's Morrissey Blvd. plant caught fire. Fire-suppression systems were activated, and firefighters had the blaze extinguished in about an hour. There were no injuries.

The suspected cause was an overheated press motor. "That is what the fire chief at the scene speculated this morning," said Globe spokesman Al Larkin, who added that the press is being taken apart to determine the blaze's exact cause and to assess the damage.

In the meantime, said Larkin, "we can still use the other presses at Boston," which were up and running after the fire was put out. The Globe is printed on Goss Metroliner presses with MetroColor towers.

Some late deliveries were expected this morning. "We figure we ran about an hour late," Larkin said. The Globe's second plant, in Billerica, Mass., absorbed a larger-than-normal portion of today's press run. Both plants are used daily, and Billerica ordinarily accounts for 45% to 50% of copies of the 450,538-circulation paper. When the fire occurred, Billerica "added more than a hundred thousand to their normal run," Larkin added. "We don't anticipate any capacity problems tonight."