ORANGE — An apartment caught fire late Friday night, causing significant damage to the Holtshire Road property, but leaving no one injured, authorities said.
A fire started around 11:30 p.m. in the wood-frame home, requiring the response of several towns into early Saturday morning.
“They’ve done a great job, by all involved,” Orange Fire Chief James Young said.
The owner of the property, Gerald Stone, said this was the first time something like this has happened to him and he’ll have to figure out a plan of action moving forward.
The property listing for the building says it’s a three family duplex, built in 1993, with seven bedrooms and 15 rooms in total. In 2018 it was valued at about $237,000. Currently, 13 people live in the building.
Residents gathered together as the fire crews worked to control the flames and dense smoke trying to escape from the pointed roof, on a night with rain just heavier than a mist.
One resident, who asked not to be named in the article, said the fire started on the couch in the living room of the wood home.
Half of the roof of the home was burnt through, while the other half more or less remained in tact. Young said the town’s building inspector will have to figure out if the home is salvageable.
In the meantime, the building is not currently inhabitable, Young said. For the night, it seems everyone found somewhere else to stay, he added.
The fire and heavy smoke brought in the fire departments from Orange, Athol, New Salem, Erving, Turners Falls, Phillipston, Warwick, Greenfield, Gill, Barre and Northfield EMS.