SAVOY, Mass. — Firefighters snuffed out Friday what could have been a dangerous fire.

"It could have been [bad] if we didn't get here in time," Savoy Fire Chief Lawrence Ordyna said. "It appeared that it had gotten into the walls and once that determination is make, we call a first-alarm fire."

The chimney fire was quickly snuffed out with fire Departments from Adams, Cheshire, Florida, Windsor, Hinsdale and Plainfield all responded to Main Road home at about noon. The home suffered minimal damage and there were no injuries, Ordyna said.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A fire that destroyed the back of a Clark Road home on Tuesday afternoon was contained with the aide of firefighters from four departments.

Stockbridge Fire Chief Ernest "Chuck" Cardillo said the blaze at the home was reported by a neighbor at around 3:15 p.m. Fortunately, he said, no one was in the house when the fire broke out.

"The daughter had just gotten dropped off from school and she didn't even go into the house because she saw the fire," Cardello said. "I think the neighbor saw it at the same time because that's when we got the call. We were able to contain the fire within 20 or 30 minutes."
 
Although the cause has not been determined, Cardello said it began on the enclosed back porch, or sunroom, and spread upwards into the attic. A pellet stove was in the room but was not being used.

"Actually the homeowner told us that he had just finished building the porch not too long ago," he said. "There's a significant amount of damage but fortunately the house wasn't totaled. It can be rebuilt and no one was hurt."

Trucks from Lee, Lenox and Great Barrington were called in to assist and the Lee Ambulance was also called in to stay on standby.

Cardello said the muddy road, which is located in a swampy area, did present problems for fire trucks that had to back out upon leaving the scene.

BECKET, Mass. — Firefighters are responding to a fully involved structure fire on Minstrels Way in Sherwood Forest. The report of a fire came in at about 3:30 p.m.

Smoke is pouring from the building and the Fire Department is calling for more equipment and manpower.

A tanker and engine have been requested from Otis Fire Department and Hinsdale is standing by in the station. An ambulance has also been called to the scene and an incident command team activated. Chester has also sent men and equipment.

Complicating matters are reports of a 600-pound propane tank at the back of the building.

Reports are from FireGround360.

The scene was cleared at 11 p.m., according to reports.

If anyone has more information on the fire, please post below.

LEE, Mass. — A fire destroyed a lodge at Oak 'N Spruce Resort this morning. The building was not occupied at the time and the cause of the blaze is under investigation. A state fire marshal was seen arriving on the scene at 11 a.m.

The Lee Fire Department was backed up by South Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, Lenox, Tyringham, Monterey and Stockbridge in containing the blaze that was believed to have started sometime around 5 a.m.

Firefighters said the call was received at 6:30 a.m. but one of the tenants in a nearby building is said to have smelled smoke shortly after 5 a.m. South Lee firefighter Garth Story said, "It was cooking pretty hot" when firefighters arrived on the scene.

It took more than two hours to douse the blaze in the heavily developed complex, which includes a number of three-story timeshare structures around a central "amenity core."

Meadow Street leading to the resort and a side road into the complex were closed to traffic.

The building was a two-story structure described The Berkshire Eagle as "Tanglewood Hall"; it is located next to the registration building.

The property was operated as a farm school for boys by the Episcopalian Diocese until being purchased and turned into a ski resort by Frank J. Prinz in 1947. Prinz sold the property to timeshare developers in 1985; it was greatly updated and expanded on by its current owner Silverleaf Resorts Inc.

Story developing ...

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — They were still toting up the damage at Cariddi's Auto Sales on Friday but the owner said he isn't leaving.

"We've been here for 29 years and have developed a substantial cumstomer base," said Guy R. Cariddi, standing in front of the scorched building as a state fire marshal inspected the roof. "We aren't going anywhere."

The blaze began in the corner of a bay on the north end of the four-bay structure. Fire Director Stephen Meranti said the fire started in the ceiling area behind the office in a boiler room area.

"We still haven't narrowed it down yet," he said of the cause. He pointed to the roof of the building, which has gone through a number of conversions since its construction as a car wash by Cariddi's father in the late 1960s. "You can see there are different layers of roof. See the metal ceiling – on top of that is a space and another metal roof and then there's a void space and a regular roof."

That configuration helped the blaze stubbornly burn in the roof, lighting up the sky with deep red flames and smoke. Firefighters had to cut their way through the roof to contain the fire.

Cariddi's son was working on a truck in the nearby bay and fled the building as it filled with smoke. The truck and another used vehicle were damaged beyond repair as were two customer's cars. Cariddi said one had just been purchased; the other bought the week before.

The owners of both vehicles told him they'd wait for him to find them replacements. That loyalty and support has been coming in all day, he said.

"I'm amazed, we've had an outpouring of people come here today offering to do anything they can for us," he said. Among them have been fellow car dealers and property owners offering space — from the old Gateway Chevrolet to West End Auto to Dean's Auto in Adams. "Everybody has just been fantastic."

Cariddi said he will be moving temporarily down to the old Ernie's Auto Sales, across from Ernest Gamache's new building at 400 Curran Highway. Cariddi said he and Gamache have been friends al ong time and he appreciated the offer. Dean's Quality Truck and Auto, owned by Joseph Dean just down the road, offered to let Cariddi's tow trucks plug in there over the weekend until the power can be turned on.

No decision will be made on the building until the building inspector and Cariddi's engineer and architect take a look at it. The building may end up being demolished and a new one put up; Cariddi said they'll take their time and not make any "rash decisions."

The fire also brought out an outpouring of municipal aid from local fire companies, including Adams, Clarksburg and Florida. Stamford, Vt., covered the Clarksburg station and even Savoy offered a helping hand by showing up with nourishment for the cold and wet firefighters.

"The chief came down and brought all kinds of food and stuff for us," said Meranti. "I guess they had a function going on."

Update: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011: The cause of blaze was a short in 220-volt electrical line feeding into a circuit breaker in the ceiling, according to the North Adams Transcript.