The fire started at about 4:35 p.m. at 19-21 Nassau St., spread up the three back porches and ignited the roof, Deputy Fire Chief James McInerney said. Watch video
This is an updated version of a story posted at 5:27 this afternoon.
CHICOPEE – A fire that started on a back porch destroyed a three-story apartment block, leaving six families homeless.
The fire started at about 4:35 p.m. at 19-21 Nassau St. It spread up the three back porches and ignited the roof, said Deputy Fire Chief James McInerney.
The fire department received multiple 911 calls on the fire and neighbors also ran around the corner to the Fire Station on Chicopee Street to ask for help. The first firefighters arrived at the house within a minute, he said.
“The fire already had a huge start when he got there,” McInerney said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by Chicopee investigators and the state Fire Marshal’s Office. He did not speculate on the cause.
Residents who witnessed the fire agreed it spread quickly.
“We were taking things upstairs and we saw thick black smoke,” said Robert Morris, whose Grattan Street home is across the street from the back of the house. “It went quick. I’ve never seen anything go so quickly.”
Police Lt. John Pronovost said he was heading to the National Night Out Against Crime event in the nearby Sarah Jane Sherman Park when he saw the smoke and stopped to help. He and other officers started evacuating the building. One person on the second floor had to be escorted out, he said.
McInerney said all residents did get out safely. Firefighters first ensured the building was evacuated and started fighting the blaze on the inside but soon were called out for safety reasons.
No one was injured but one firefighter was overcome by the heat. He was treated at the scene, he said.
For more than an hour firefighters poured water on the house. Trucks were stationed on Nassau Street and Grattan Street so the front and the back could be saturated. The blaze was mostly extinguished by 6 p.m. and firefighters entered the building again to put out flames that ignited again, he said. Firefighters from Holyoke, Westover Air Reserve Base and Springfield assisted by covering the Chicopee stations while firefighter were working at the blaze, McInerney said.
The fire blanketed the neighborhood with thick black smoke. A number of roads, including parts of Grattan and Chicopee streets were closed snarling traffic at a time when people were leaving work.
Neighbors on either side of the house decided quickly to leave their homes after they smelled smoke and saw flames.
“I told everyone to get out because it was getting really hot,” said Maria Estrada, who lived two buildings down from the fire.
Jeff LaFlamme, who lives next door to the house said he grabbed his young daughter and left because it was so hot and smoky. While Estrada watched his daughter, he went back to get his dog but did not take the time to put on shoes.
McInerney estimated the damage between $180,000 and $200,000 and said the building was likely a total loss. No one was allowed to return to their homes.
A spokeswoman for the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross said the agency sent two support units to the scene and assisted residents who were left homeless.