Fire Damages Clarksburg Home

Staff Reports
iBerkshires
09:01PM / Sunday, December 20, 2009

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View Larger Map Smoke pours from the front of 33 Wheeler Ave. on Sunday night.

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — A fire severely damaged a Wheeler Avenue home Sunday night, leaving the owners homeless for now.

The house at 38 Wheeler Ave. is owned by Keith and Barbara Worthington. The structure suffered fire damage to the attic and upper floor, and water damage throughout.

Fire Chief Carlyle Chesbro Jr. said the fire started in the attic above the stairway. "It was electrical, this was old wiring."

It took less than an hour to bring the blaze under control, although smoke continue to billow out for some time afterward.

"It was a total group effort," said Chesbro, of the firefighters marshaled to fight the blaze. The town also dropped off sand that firefighters shoveled along the steep road to maintain traction on the icy surface.

The road is very narrow but Chesbro said his department was prepared to work on Wheeler Avenue, prompted in part by concerns for resident of the hill. "We had it preplanned what we were going to do," he said. "And it worked out perfect."

The report of a structure fire was received by Clarksburg firefighters about  6:30 p.m.; North Adams and  Stamford, Vt., fire departments also responded, along with North Adams Police and North Adams Ambulance Service.

Firefighters battled the blaze on the steep, narrow road in bitterly cold temperatures. Hoses were were run up from Houghton Street at the bottom of the avenue. Wheeler Avenue veers off to the right and up from Houghton about where the town line is.

Flames could be seen coming through the eaves on each end of the attic roof from a vantage point in the parking lot at North Adams Regional Hospital. Smoke billowed over the residential area and a large hole could be seen under the roof line in the back of the house.

Traffic was detoured over School Street to North Eagle Street in Clarksburg and turned around at North Street in North Adams.

Clarksburg firefighters were also called to a chimney fire on River Road near the intersection with Henderson Road at about 9:45 p.m.; a request was made to North Adams for the ladder truck.

Updated with more information at 1:40 p.m., Dec. 21, and again with Chief Carlyle Chesbro on Dec. 22, at 7 p.m.

An electrical fire burned through both ends of the attic at 38 Wheeler Ave.

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