North Adams Fire Starts in Basement, Ends on Roof

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A stubborn wall fire made its way up the side of a Windom Terrace home on Thursday night.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A basement fire at a Windom Terrace home on Thursday burned up through the siding and into the roof before firefighters could finally douse the smoky blaze.

The fire was first reported as smoke coming from the basement shortly before 11:30 p.m. but a police officer who swung by immediately reported it as a structure fire.

The wraparound porch on the single-family home at 25 Windom was in flames and smoke was pouring from the basement. The owner, Joanne Derose, was able to exit the building; three cats were also taken safely from the structure.

"She heard the smoke detector going off in the basement, opened the door all the smoke and fire came up," said Fire Director Stephen Meranti. "Before we got here that porch was fully involved. you could see how it spread way over here.

"It got from the porch ceiling into the walls right up through outside wall and into the eaves ... there's really not that much fire."

More than a dozen firefighters attacked the blaze at several points on the exterior — pulling down the porch ceiling, yanking off the vinly siding and exterior sheathing, cutting a hole in the roof — as the intensity of the smoke moved up the west side of the building. The flames popped through roof at its peak.

"There's no structural damage, it's all exterior," Meranti said. "The worst part is water damage.

"We put down salvage covers over the furniture to try to protect them from damage, but unfortunately, you've got to open the walls to get to the fire."

Much of the fire damage is in the basement, which had "all kinds of combustible material."

The house cannot be occupied at the moment and Derose was going to spend the night with family.

North Adams Ambulance Service was at the scene and the Clarksburg responded with an air truck. A fire watch was set for the night.

Church Street was closed between Washington Avenue and Elmwood to allow hoses to be run up from Church Street.

The fire was contained by1:30. The cause is still under investigation.