Victory St Fire

19 left homeless

ADAMS -- Nineteen people were left homeless yesterday when a blazing fire engulfed and demolished an apartment house at 1912 Victory St.

About 30 firefighters from both the Adams Alert Hose Co. and Cheshire's Hoosac Hose Co. fought the blaze in 80-degree weather for over two hours. Four Adams fire trucks and two ambulances were at the scene, while police cars blocked off Summer and Victory streets.

There were no injuries.

The cause of the fire, which started at about 8:30 a.m., is not known. State Fire Marshal Christopher J. Ware was able to rule out arson as a cause.

Marshall Taylor, a tenant, had just come home from doing laundry when he could smell something coming from the house.

"I walked in and could tell right away that something wasn't right," he said. "Then all of a sudden, I could see the flames coming out of the roof." Taylor then called authorities.

Neighbors from down the street said they saw the flames shoot out the attic window, followed by clouds of thick smoke.

"It was only a matter of seconds before flames shot out the back," said Nancy Clermont of 30 Victory St.

As a precaution, firefighters evacuated neighbors' homes on both sides of the building in case the fire would spread, but it never did.

Joseph Dean, an Adams fireman, said firefighters mainly fought the fire from the back of the building.

"It started in the upstairs section and moved into the attic," he said. "After that, they had to call for back-up."

David Shears, an emergency medical technician and firefighter, said when his EMT team arrived at the scene, he heard someone say that the majority of the fire was in the back. He immediately joined in to help fight the fire.

"I just grabbed a hose from the number one engine truck out front and dragged it to the back side," he said.

Thick, gray smoke was pouring out of the lone window in the attic before sharp flames started popping out among the roof shingles.

The fire chief, Stephen Brown, then signaled the alarm to get all of the firemen out of the house. Shortly thereafter, a portion of the roof collapsed.

Firefighter John Paciorek said it was really difficult to get into the attic, where the majority of the fire was contained.

"There was just this great wall of plaster that we couldn't get through," he said. "We were right next to a window and didn't even know it. That's when they blew the horn to get out."

The blaze eventually made its way through the chimney, right before the roof started to collapse. The right side caved in, then the chimney and the left side of the roof followed directly afterwards.

Brown said there could have been some kind of a backdraft that caused the various hot pockets to continue in the floor and the walls.

"We thought we had pushed it all the way back to the porches, but it was still in the attic," he said.

All five apartments, owned by Rusty Ransford, suffered massive smoke and water damage. The building was described as a complete loss.