Basement Blaze Damages North Adams Home
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Witnesses said smoke was boiling out of lower floors and the chimney when firefighters were called to the scene at 4:42 on Tuesday afternoon.
Fire Director Stephen Meranti said the blaze was contained very quickly but the single-family house suffered smoke and water damage. The cause is under investigation.
When Tammy Solomon saw the police vehicles, then the fire trucks, as she drove home she thought it was for the unoccupied building across the street.
"Then I saw the firefighters coming out of my basement door and I realized, 'it's not them, it's us,'" she said.
Her daughter Karina Solomon and Karina's boyfriend, ShoRon Matthews were the only ones home at the time.
Matthews said he was startled by a light bulb bursting; when he went to get a new one he smelled smoke in the bathroom.
"I opened the basement door and it was full of smoke," said Matthews. The couple stopped long enough for Karina to dial the Fire Department before running outside.
Clad in slippers and a thin white T-shirt, Matthews shivered as he recounted the smoke filling the house. "I'm glad I caught it when I did. It could have been so much worse. ... If we hadn't been here, the house could have burned down."
Meranti said firefighters entered the basement through a rear exterior door. The fire was believed to have started in the front of the basement, along Chestnut Street. Fire nearly spread to the first floor through an open hole where an old radiator had once been connected.
The blaze was quickly contained but the amount of smoke made it difficult to see, said Meranti, describing the fire as a "1 1/2 alarm" because while off-duty crew were called in, mutual aide was not required to cover the station.
"We're using thermal imagers to make sure there's no fire in the walls," said Meranti. The basement windows were knocked out in the front of the building and a fan was placed on the front porch, next to a "for sale" sign, to help air out the structure.
The fire director said damage to electrical wires in the basement could be seen but they were waiting for smoke to clear before trying to determine a cause.
Tammy Solomon said the family had been trying to sell the house on their own, but "I think we're going to put it in a Realtor's hands now."
About two years ago, a major leak in the roof had caused damage that had to be fixed, said Karina Solomon; now it was hit by fire.
"This house is just too big for us," she said. "It's a beautiful house, if somebody wants to put some money into it."
Tammy and her husband, Ronald Solomon, had lived in the pink Victorian on the corner lot about 14 years, they said. Ronald Solomon said the family, including their young son, had a place to stay for the night at least. The house is insured.
As they watched firefighters rolling up hose and playing flashlight beams across the basement ceiling, Tammy's mother rushed down the street asking if everyone was alright.
"I was coming to see my grandson," said Nancy Vernier. "I didn't know what was going on. Here they're thinking about selling it and this happens."
She commiserated with her daughter as the Solomons waited, wondering what to do next.
