Clarksburg House Damaged by Electrical Fire
Firefighters open a hole in the porch roof to check for fire.
Fire Chief Carlyle "Chip" Chesbro said the fire started in the kitchen of the small single-family home at 512 Walker St.
Smoke alarms alerted the family and they were able to get out and call 911 about 4 a.m.
"The fire started in the kitchen outlet, behind the refrigerator," Chesbro said. "As soon as we got here, we were able to knock it down rather quickly. We had North Adams Fire go into the attic and the second floor to check for extension but none was found."
Firefighters spent some time opening up the exterior wall to the kitchen that opens onto a side porch and the roof of the porch where it attaches to the wall to ensure there were no lingering hotspots.
The house has a balloon frame construction that can allow fires to burn up through walls and into the attic, Chesbro explained.
The building incurred smoke, water and heat damage, with the majority of the damage to the kitchen, which he said was now "unusable."
National Grid shut off power to the house. The occupants were able to get into the building to remove what personal belongings that they could.
In addition to Clarksburg volunteer firefighters, the North Adams Fire Department and Stamford (Vt.) Fire Department assisted at the scene. Northern Berkshire EMS and North Adams and state police also responded to the scene.
No one was injured but the structure was being boarded up and firefighters remained on the scene for several hours. The house is located on a narrow section of Walker just past the town line and the street was blocked off to through traffic.
Tags: structure fire,
