Wood covers the windows and doors of two apartments at 810 Southampton Road which were damaged by a fire Tuesday. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – Eight residents were displaced from seven apartments at 810 Southampton Road when a fire broke out in one of the apartments Tuesday afternoon.
The first report of the fire was received at 2:57 p.m. and sent the available apparatus – three pumpers, three ambulances and the department’s tower truck – to the single story apartment building.
Capt. Chuck Warren reports that when Engine 3 arrived at the Marvon Apartments, at 3:02 p.m., heavy fire and smoke was showing in the center of the front of the building and he initiated the attack on the fire.
Additional firefighters and police arrived within minutes and firefighters opened the roof of the building to extinguish the fire which was found to have started in the cooking area of one of the apartments.
A resident of that apartment was alerted by a smoke detector and left the building safely. Although a cat reportedly perished, all of the residents who were at home left the building without incident.
Dept. Fire Chief Andy Hart reports that the two apartments in the middle of the building suffered fire damage and the units on either side suffered smoke and heat damage. He estimated the value of the property loss at $100,000 and put the value of the contents destroyed at $20,000.
The Red Cross was contacted and asked to help with emergency accommodations for six of the eight displaced residents.
One firefighter was injured and taken to Baystate Noble Hospital where he was treated and released.
The fire remains under investigation by state troopers assigned to the Massachusetts Fire Marshal’s office and by city firefighters and police.
