Adams Blaze Leaves 15 Homeless
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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.
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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.
