PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A 2-alarm structure fire at a Woodlawn Avenue apartment building left the building uninhabitable.
The Pittsfield Fire Department was dispatched to a five-family at 181 Woodlawn Ave. around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Upon arrival, they found heavy fire in the back of the downstairs apartment extending to the second floor. The blaze was under control in about an hour.
Building Owner Jeremiah Ames, principal of Lenox Memorial High School, reported that all tenants described the fire as coming on "very, very fast."
"All of our tenants are safe. It sounds like one tenant lost a cat," he said. "The fire definitely started in one unit, but I don't know how it started at all."
Occupants are not able to re-enter the building and the Red Cross has been notified.
Deputy Fire Chief Ronald Clement said the department made an aggressive interior attack, and the fire went to a double alarm due to the amount of smoke it was pushing out.
"Every window had smoke coming out of it that we could see," he explained, adding that it left the department to believe there was possibly a lot more burning inside than what they could see.
The handful of people in the home got out safely and there were primary and secondary searches to confirm that it was clear. Clement reported that a cat was taken out of the home unconscious.
There were no reported firefighter or civilian injuries.
Ames has owned the home for about 18 years and said this was the first fire event during that time.
"We’re trying to figure out what we’re doing next. They can’t go back in. No one will be able to get their things," he said, explaining that they want to keep the building safe and secure overnight hoping that tenants can retrieve some of their property later.
Clement reported that there was heavy damage to at least one apartment, smoke damage to all apartments, and water damage to a few of them.
Around 6:45 p.m., he estimated that some members of the department would be there another two hours. The dead-end street was closed off during the response and was planned to open back up soon.
The fire is under investigation by the Pittsfield Fire Department Fire Investigation Unit.
