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Adams Blaze Leaves 15 HomelessStaff reports
iBerkshires
12:23PM / Saturday, December 27, 2008
ADAMS, Mass. — A massive fire destroyed a six-unit tenement on First Street on Friday night, leaving more than a dozen people homeless.
According to reports, firefighters concentrated on saving nearby buildings on the steep-set and thickly settled street. A 23-unit apartment building next door was scorched by the blaze and its residents temporarily evacuated.
It took nearly 90 minutes to bring the blaze at 6 First St. under control; more than three hours after it was called in at about 6 p.m., smoke was still spilling above the hillside. A lit candle in unit 6 was the reported cause of the blaze.
Summer Street was blocked off from Spring Street to Hoosac Street as firefighters ran hoses from the street and up the hill. The towns of Clarksburg, Cheshire, Hinsdale, Savoy, Williamstown and Stamford, Vt., were called for mutual aid.
Linda Haas of Berkshire Studio was close enough to take pictures of the inferno and e-mailed us her shots.
No one was reportedly injured but the building was a total loss. The cause is under investigation and may have been started by candles.
The last major fires in the Summer Street area — an apartment block on Winter Street and Pelletier's, a bar and dance hall — were nearly 30 years ago. (Unless someone knows of another big fire since?)
Firefighters stayed on scene through the night to watch for hot spots; the building was razed on Saturday for safety reasons.
The building's 15 occupants have been put up at Harrington's and the Holiday Inn in North Adams. Adams Elks members have offered their lodge as a drop-off point for donations for the displaced tenants this weekend from 11 to 4 and weekdays from 5 to 7.
For more pictures of the blaze, go to Haas' Web site here. |
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary. Comments are closed for this article. If you would like to contribute information on this article, e-mail us at info@iBerkshires.com |
| Thanks for posting info about how to help out! Didn't see that in some of the other local media outlets. | | from: Concerned | on: 12-28-2008 12:00AM
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| the magnitude of this fire was just horrific!! My son cory adelt is a vol. fireman for the town of adams,.......That small fire dept needs to be handed much praise in the things they do..they did an excellent job in saving surrounding buildings~ the neighboring depts did a great job also..these men worked from 6 pm to after 6am the next day..WE are all grateful no one was hurt or killed. My hand goes out to chief Brown for getting his men and others out of the building before it collapsed..all i can say is that we have one hell of a great vol. dept in our little town of Adams....GOOD JOB ALL!! MAY GOD BLESS | | from: Gloria Hahn | on: 12-28-2008 12:00AM
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we all need to thank the fire dept for their fantastic work. It is nothing short of a christmas miracle that they prevented the fire from taking down the apt building next door.
God Bless! | | from: watched | on: 12-28-2008 12:00AM
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Drove by this morning, it is amazing the fire didn't spread and take down the next building. Great job Fire Department. Also, great praise to the Elks, who have sorted and collected an impressive collection of donations.
| | from: Amy | on: 12-28-2008 12:00AM
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| Let`s thank "ALL" the fire dept`s that helped that night, None of that would have been possible without them ALL.. | | from: local | on: 12-28-2008 12:00AM
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| Job well done by all the fire and emergency officials! This was the worst fire I have ever personally seen. I was not in town for the fire at the old Ambulance Station. (I heard that was a horrific fire as well.) I am proud of our emergency crew, and I sleep better at night knowing I have them to protect me. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the fire. | | from: Amber | on: 12-29-2008 12:00AM
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| It is always a saddening emotion that is felt when one reads of a local Holiday tragedy. The words that briefed us on this event only gave us a quick insight on the situation but your images that were captured tells the story. The assistance from the firefighters coming in from the surrounding towns, some from 20 miles away - showed us just how strong their bond is. We should all be proud of our Berkshire community! | | from: Local Yokal | on: 12-29-2008 12:00AM
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| Excellent job by the fire department in keeping this fire contained to one building. The next apartment was only 36 inches away. I was in town for XMAS watched the fire from Summer street. These volunteers really do a great job. Thanks to the other departments for helping as well, don't want to forget them. Next time you see a firefighter, thank them for what they do. | | from: Local now living elsewhere | on: 12-29-2008 12:00AM
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| Please don't forget the services provided by staff and volunteers of the local Red Cross. They support the firefighters and those residents displaced by the fire. Providing emergency shelter, clothing and food as needed. They are not a government agency and rely on the generosity of Berkshire County. All emergency services are provided at no cost to those who need it. Thanks to the Red Cross for doing great work that many of us aren't even aware of. | | from: Mike | on: 12-30-2008 12:00AM
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| I hope the town of Adams realizes the value they have with the Adams Fire Department. How well these men and woman are trained and how well they preformed in saving lives and property. These fire personell put their own lives on the line for their town for free!! | | from: | on: 01-04-2009 12:00AM
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I live in the apartment in the next building that got "scorched". my family and i were in florida for christmas when this fire happened and i was actually contacted about the fire as it first happened - I got a phone call from my friend at 6:17 as she was heading to my apartment to feed my animals. Her husband ran into my apartment and saved our cat as firefighters were just starting to arrive. One of the firemen tried to save my guinea pigs and thankfully got them out too - i believe his name is tommy decker - im still trying to get answers for everything... great appreciation to him for going above and beyond to save my little babies!! The apartment buildings were literally just feet apart - i could stand between them and stretch out my arms and touch both without any probelm. I have NO IDEA how the wonderful firemen saved my apartment and the whole apartment block i live in!THEY ARE ANGELS AND TRUE HEROES!!!! there are 8 apartments in my block not 23 or whatever the article said but - thats no matter - there were many families that were saved do to the WONDERFUL combined efforts of the VOLUNTEER fireme. We just arrived home on Sun and although we cant live in our apartment right now due to having no heat, we are very LUCKY to have a home to eventually return to. I have been through a house fire in my past and know what its like to lose everything you have. My heart goes out to my neighborss. Although my family is inconveinenced at this time - we are in the holiday inn - we were told to stay on vacation so that our apartment could be repaired instead of coming home to try to straighten things out and having to be put up here... we got home thinking we could go to our aprtment only to find out we couldnt because its literally 10 degrees in there...my fish froze -heck even my dish soap froze because apparently my heater got damged from the bricks broken on my chimney from the fire or something --- still trying to figure it all out... still we are VERY LUCKY...theres a little damage and things smell smokey but - they are there for us to eventually return to. Unfortunately the red cross has "closed this case" and we could get no assistance from them but my landlord paid to put us up until we can et back in ....
Once again - i must say a great huge THANK YOU to ALL the firemen and volunteers who kept my place intact... I only have a few names at this time... fire chief Steve Brown... Tommy decker...Dave Shears.... i KNOW there were soooo many and i want to thank them ALL!!! and extra thanks to my best friend and her hubby for rescuing my kitty and helping us out soooo much - i know you dont wanna be mention - be you know who you are and words can never express how i feel about ALL involved. THANK YOU! I am truly blessed! hug a fireman - he just may save YOU some day!
peace and blessings to all! | | from: jody hadden | on: 01-05-2009 12:00AM
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