The kitchen, and beyond it the living room, of a house at 372 Montgomery Road displays limited damage after a fire Tuesday. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – A single-story house at 372 Montgomery Road suffered significant damage in a fire reported by a passing motorist at 11:16 p.m. Tuesday.
Both firefighters and police were dispatched to the blaze and Engine 3, responding from the north side fire substation, was the first apparatus to get there, arriving about a minute after officers William Cavanaugh and Timothy Fanion.
The first responders were quickly joined by two additional fire engines, the platform truck and several additional police officers.
In addition, a tanker truck was dispatched to assist from the Air National Guard firefighting unit at Barnes Airport. Engines from both the Holyoke and West Springfield fire departments were sent to the Broad Street fire headquarters to be available in case another alarm was received while city firefighters were busy on Montgomery Road.
Dep. Chief Patrick Egloff, the department’s fire prevention officer, reports that police and fire department investigators examined the fire scene with assistance from state troopers assigned to the state fire marshal’s office.
Gaping blackened windows of a house at 372 Montgomery Road look on to the back yard after a late Tuesday night fire. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
Egloff stressed that the investigation is incomplete but said that the fire “appears to be accidental” and said that the cause was apparently “a possible electrical problem.”
Although firefighters entered the burning building in response to early reports suggesting that somebody was trapped in the house, Egloff reports that nobody was found inside.
A ‘For sale’ sign suggests the house is on the market but Egloff said that the dwelling was being used although nobody had been in the house at the time of the fire.
The fire caused significant damage, Egloff said, but the building is still standing.
The interior rooms are charred, the windows are gaping, damage is obvious and the roof is sagging.
“It’s going to need a whole new roof but it’s not a total loss,” Egloff said.
