Adams Apartment House Destroyed in Blaze

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ADAMS, Mass. — At least a half-dozen people have lost everything after a fire ravaged a three-apartment home on Old Columbia Street early Saturday morning.

Fire Chief Paul Goyette said some 45 firefighters from four towns battled the blaze for nearly five hours before it was finally extinguished.

"We probably flowed about 150,000 gallons of water," he said later Saturday morning as a backhoe tore down the blackened two-story structure. No was injured, but the tenants lost everything, Goyette said.

The fire was a reported at about 2:07 a.m. as a smell smoke of smoke in a bathroom. When Adams Police arrived at the scene, the flames were already coming from the windows on the first and second stories on the south side of the building. The wood-frame structure is tucked in slightly behind another home and a small outbuilding off Old Columbia, and near the end of Stevens Street, off Newark.

"The fire had a good hold of the building at that time," Goyette said. "We tried an interior tack, had a little bit of knockdown of the fire then it just became untenable.  We pulled out and went all defensive."

North Adams, Cheshire and Clarksburg firefighters aided Adams; North Adams Ambulance Service provided its rehab trailer and Adams Police and Adams Ambulance Service also responded.

The state fire marshal's office had a representative at the scene earlier in the morning. Goyette said he was listing it as non-suspicious, but undetermined as to cause because of the amount of damage.

The American Red Cross had also responded to provide the six or seven occupants with aid. All of them had been out of the building by the time firefighters arrived, Goyette said.

Unfortunately, it appears several pets were killed in the fire.

The building contained 335, 337 and 339 Old Columbia St. addresses. The structure was lathe and plaster, probably balloon structure, and built about 1879. Town documents list the owner as Joseph Garceau.

"After the fire was out, it was deemed by the building inspector that the building was too unsafe and it had to come down," said Goyette.

Please contact info@iberkshires.com if any fundraising is being done on behalf of the tenants so we can help spread the word.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Larry and Pam Lillie Davis here.

A GoFundMe for the Lescarbeau family is here.