Nine people displaced after fire at North Adams apartment

By Adam Shanks

ashanks@berkshireeagle.com @EagleAdamShanks on Twitter

NORTH ADAMS >> At least nine people were displaced on Sunday after a fire spread quickly through their Loftus Street apartment building.

The North Adams Fire Department received word at 3:13 p.m. of smoke alarms activated at 5 Loftus St., and the fire was already spreading by the time firefighters arrived just three minutes later. But an "aggressive attack" contained the fire to a single apartment and nobody was injured, according to North Adams Fire Director Stephen Meranti.

"It was a really good stop by the guys," Meranti told The Eagle on Monday. "They did an excellent job keeping the fire to the one apartment."

The blaze appears to have been caused by the electrical failure of a porch light, Meranti said.

The building, owned by local developer Michael Deep, contained three occupied apartments, according to Meranti. Though the fire was contained to the single apartment, utilities to the to the entire building had to be shut off by city staff, forcing every apartment to evacuated. Deep and the Red Cross were able to help relocate the tenants, and Meranti hoped to have utilities turned back on by Monday afternoon.

The fire spread quickly from the first floor through the attic and roof, Meranti said. The building has what's known as "balloon frame construction," common in older homes throughout New England that allows fire to pass quickly from floor to floor.

"It's like a chimney, it goes right up through into the attic," Meranti said. "It's very common in this area. During renovations they install fire stops all that is they put a block of wood across at floor levels ... to prevent the fire from spreading."

North Adams Ambulance Service and North Adams Police, who had to shut down River Street while the fire was ongoing, also responded to the scene. All off-duty firefighters were called to the fire.

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Nine people displaced after fire at North Adams apartment