The Adams Fire Department was dispatched just before 5am July 5th for a reported car fire. On arrival a Jeep was well involved and extinguished with one line. Luckily, the vehicle was not in close proximity to a home. Cause of the fire remains under investigation.

By Tammy Daniels
Courtesy of iBerkshires.com
07:09PM / Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Images courtesy of: iBerkshires; Berkshire Eagle; North Adams 911

The former Berkshire Dance Theater went up in flames on Wednesday afternoon. 
 
Fire Chief John Pansecchi said he had some idea of where the fire started but did not wish to speculate until the state fire marshal could confirm the cause. 
 
The blaze was contained fairly swiftly but there were a number of hotspots firefighters were still dealing with an hour later.
 
Firefighters were alerted to heavy smoke coming from the roof of the building shortly before 5 p.m. The second floor of the long-vacant structure was fully involved, according to images posted to iBerkshires' Facebook page. 
 
"The first couple of guys got here they pulled a line out. The first few guys that were here really worked their tails off," said Pansecchi, adding he was surprised how short staffed they were at first because of the holiday. 
 
Cheshire and North Adams sent help and Savoy came down to cover the station. Northern Berkshire EMS provided rehab. 
 
Firefighters were working in difficult conditions — hot muggy weather in the 90s and a torrential rainstorm that turned Commercial Street into a river right after the call came in. 
 
"It might have been a little bit of a blessing, it kind of cooled us off a little bit," the chief said. "But the guys who were working and pulling hose, they took a beating."
 
One of the first firefighters on the scene was evaluated by ambulance personnel and released. 
 
Commercial Street was closed between Prospect and Glen streets and the Park Street intersection and traffic detoured for almost two hours.
 
National Grid disconnected electricity to the property and Berkshire Gas was called to ensure no gas was connected.  
 
About 70 National Grid customers were without power from Glen Street south along Bellevue Avenue but it's not clear if this had anything to do with the fire. 
 
The dance studio had been owned by Susan Hakes for years until selling the property in 2007. The property consists of a house at 32 Commercial, also vacant and dilapidated, and the two-story studio in the rear. It sits at the corner of Liberty Street and Commercial. 
 
The fire chief said the fire was mainly on the north side of the studio and did not affect the house. 
 
The town did a tax taking on the property in 2017 and the case is currently in Land Court. 
 
Barbara St. Pierre, longtime friend of Susan Hakes, had tears in eyes as she watched the firefighters and the smoke coming from the property.
 
She had 30 years of good memories there, she said. She'd called Hakes, now living out in Las Vegas, to tell her the sad news. 

More photos of this fire here

By Stephen Dravis
Courtesy of iBerkshires.com
01:25PM / Wednesday, February 21, 2024

ADAMS, Mass. -- One person was injured in a house fire on East Jordan Street near the intersection with Hayer Street on Wednesday morning.
 
Adams Fire Chief John Pansecchi said the owner of the residence was taken to Berkshire Medical Center by Northern Berkshire EMS with burns from the blaze, which was reported at about 11:15 on Wednesday morning.
 
"He was able to get the dog and three kids out of the house," John Pansecchi said. "We were able to confirm everyone was out of the house."

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff

​ADAMS, Mass. — Five fire companies responded to a structure fire on Richmond Street on Thursday morning that gutted the apartment building. 
 
The second floor of the century-old building at 16-18 Richmond was fully involved when firefighters arrived shortly after 9:30 a.m. 
 
Everyone was reported out of the building and no one was injured. It wasn't immediately clear how many people were affected. 
 
It was the smoke from the fire that could be seen across town and from as far as Curran Highway in North Adams that alerted first-responders. 
 
"I was actually driving downtown when I looked over and saw heavy smoke," said Fire Chief John Pansecchi. "I pulled up and the house was  already fully involved, every window had smoke. We've basically been on the attack since we got here."
 
Richmond is one of several steep and narrow streets on the east side of Summer Street. Firefighters from Adams, North Adams, Cheshire, Dalton and Savoy responded to the scene. With some difficulty, Adams and North Adams bracketed the building with ladder trucks on Richmond and even narrower Clifford Lane to get to hotspots within the building. 
 
A vacant two-story residence at 10 Richmond next to the fire was used to run a line to get to the fire from the side. Power was cut off to the neighborhood, "leaving a lot of turkeys in the oven," said one neighbor, who was preparing to put his own pies in the oven when the power went out.
 
National Grid was at the scene to aid in moving wires and Adams Police  blocked off Summer from Hoosac Street to Winter Street. 
 
The nearly 7,000 square-foot structure is listed as a three-apartment building and owned by Richard and Sandra Kleiner, according to town documents. Pansecchi said the building was fully occupied. A smaller unit at basement level was being used as a short-term rental and the occupant, from Canada, was worried about getting her identification documents out. 
 
By about 11:30 a.m., the fire was contained but hotspots were still sending smoke into the air. The entire attic was gone and the second story and front facade were a charred mess. 
 
"We've got the bulk of the fire knocked down and we're trying to hit some hotspots now," said the chief.
 
Pansecchi said cause wasn't known but an investigator from state fire marshal's office was already on the scene and the chief said he appreciated the fast response, especially on a holiday. The investigator was speaking to tenants and the owners.
 
"This is a great effort by everybody here," Pansecchi said. "These guys all did a great job. They worked their tails off to get this under control."

​Additional photos here.

Courtesy The Berkshire Eagle 
By Greta Jochem, May 28, 2022 
​
ADAMS — A fire at an apartment building on 27 Rear Commercial St. in Adams in the early hours of Saturday damaged the building but did not injure any residents.

Around 1 a.m., Adams Fire Department got a report of the fire, said Assistant Chief Dave Lennon.

North Adams Fire Department, Cheshire Fire Department and Savoy Fire Department were on scene to help, while the Clarksburg Fire Department covered the Adams Fire Department station, Lennon said.

When firefighters arrived, fire was coming out of the windows and although it took "quite some time," the fire was under control by around 2 a.m., Lennon said.

None of the residents were injured, according to Lennon. One child in the building was on a ventilator and was helped out of the building safely.

Fire damage was contained to the apartment unit where the fire started, but residents have to stay elsewhere while the building is being evaluated, according to Lennon. “Everybody that was in that apartment building found alternate placement to live right now," he said.

Officials are looking into the cause of the blaze. "At this point it's not suspicious," Lennon said, "but it's still under investigation.”