NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A structure fire in the middle of the night Saturday forced at least three families from their homes on River Street. 

 

The blaze was reported shortly before 2:30 a.m. at 313 River St., but was in the back apartment facing Loftus Street of a multi-unit building at 307-309 River. 

 

"Crews made a pretty good, swift attack, knocked it down right away. Obviously, it had a little bit of a jump on us," said Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre. "Some windows were popped up and doors were open when we got here, so that just kind of feeds the fire a little bit."

 

The fire is believed to have started in the living room on the first floor of the two-story back unit. The area around the living room window is blackened, and melted vinyl siding showed the path of the fire up the side of the building into the upper apartment and into the attic. 

 

"Fortunately, most of the fire was confined to the first floor. Had a little bit of extension to the second floor, and in the attic," the chief said. "We're investigating right now trying to figure out what exactly caused the fire."

 

A hole had to chopped into the attic roof and firefighters could be seen moving around looking for any embers.  

 

A group of friends had been enjoying the unusually warm night around a firepit in the yard in between the several apartment buildings when the blaze broke out. 

 

One man, who asked his name not be used, said he could see the flames in the living room and he and the unit's occupant had rushed to the front door because there were kittens inside. 

 

"I didn't know how severe the fire was until I got right into there," he said, adding that the smoke and flames had pushed them back. He said the fire singed his shoulder as ran back out. He then went to the doors of the other two apartments and banged on them to wake up the occupants. 

 

Several people said the dogs in the other apartments had been rescued but that there were two cats and a lizard still in the units. 

 

A crowd had gather at the scene, many in night clothes, and it was not clear how many people were affected. The Rev. David Anderson, the Fire Department chaplain, was getting names for the Red Cross. 

 

Lefebvre said the other occupants of the back apartment were reportedly out of town. 

 

A GoFundMe has been set up for one of the occupants, Jasmyne Forrest, the mother of two young children. She and her partner reportedly lost everything in their apartment. (iBerkshires does not endorse any GoFundMe drives; links provided for informational purposes.)

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey was also the at the scene speaking with residents. She said the flames were evident when she arrived. Wire and Alarm Inspector Mitchell Meranti, Commissioner of Public Services Timothy Lescarbeau, and interim Police Chief Mark Bailey were also at the scene. National Grid arrived to shut off power.

 

The call for all shifts came within minutes of the fire report and Clarksburg Fire Department covered the station and sent the air truck to River Street. Northern Berkshire EMS provided rehab and treated one person who had suffered a laceration to his ankle. 

 

Lefebvre believed just the back three apartments were occupied and the two front units are empty. The front apartments have new windows with the labels still on them.

 

The property is listed on the city's assessor maps as being owned by ESP Realty Holdings LLC, with a resident agent in Lenox. It was built circa 1880, has five units and was purchased from Michael Deep Trustee in 2021 for $149,500. 

 

River Street was shut down from Houghton to Harris Street. The fire scene began clearing by 4:30 a.m. and a fire watch set up.