The Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse fire began on December 3, 1999, in an abandoned building at 266 Franklin Street, Worcester, Massachusetts. The fire was started accidentally some time between 16:30 and 17:45 by two homeless people who were squatting in the building and had knocked over a candle. They left the scene without reporting the fire. The 6-story building, previously used as a meat cold storage facility, had no windows above the ground floor and no fire detection or suppression systems.