By Jenn Smith
The Berkshire Eagle
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Fire tore through a blighted and unoccupied multi-family house on First Street early Monday morning, while firefighters poured thousands of gallons of water to douse it and stop its spread to a neighboring building.
The cause is still under investigation by the Pittsfield Fire Department and the state fire marshal, but it appears suspicious.
“It warrants more investigation,” said Pittsfield Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski. “The house was boarded up pretty good. There was no power, no gas, so [there s] no logical explanation that could come from that. The cause is still undetermined, but yes, I m leaning toward suspicious.”
No one was believed to have been in the building at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The building will have to be torn down.
Firefighters and emergency response personnel, assisted by responders from Lenox and Dalton, were dispatched to the wood-framed house at 140 First St., located near the Cumberland Farms store, around 2:52 a.m. on Monday.
Deputy Fire Chief Mark Cancilla said that when crews arrived fire was burning the rear, northeast corner of the structure. Flames continued to burn toward the center of the two-story building and through the roof.
A sign posted on the building warned of an unstable interior floor. As a result, firefighters staged their attack on the fire from the perimeter.
Firefighters doused the home with between five and seven high-capacity water jets. Czerwinski said firefighters pumped 4,000 gallons of water per minute onto the blaze to prevent it from spreading.
By 8 a.m., firefighters and other emergency response personnel tended to hot spots smoldering in the charred remains of the structure.
Road blocks were set up by the Pittsfield Police Department at the intersections of First and Fenn streets and First and Adam streets, detouring traffic for most of the morning.
On Monday, the fire department had still been unable to reach the building owner, Kent Fox. According to the Massachusetts Registry of Deeds, the property has been owned by Kent and Kory Fox of Lanesborough since 2004. It was not immediately known whether the property was insured.
Firefighters dumped 4,000 gallons of water a minute to douse a fire early Monday on First Street in Pittsfield.
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