State of emergency declared in Amherst after massive fire displaces 230 residents

State of emergency declared in Amherst after massive fire displaces 230 residents
MassLive
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Fire crews were in the final stages on Sunday morning of putting out a massive fire that started Friday night at an off-campus apartment complex near the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

“We continue to have fire burning in hot spots in the piles of rubble,” Amherst Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren told MassLive on Sunday morning. “We are in the final stages of doing demolition and trying to extinguish all of the fire.”

At about 4 a.m. on Sunday, the building at 57 Olympia Drive was about two-thirds demolished, according to Stromgren. The building at 57 Olympia Drive is the address for one to four-bedroom apartments.

911 callers initially reported seeing a fire close to 8:20 p.m. at a four-story building under construction at 47 Olympia Drive that eventually collapsed due to the fire.

Both buildings are being declared a total loss.

Early reports suggest that about 230 residents were displaced by the fire, and no injuries were reported.

There is no current estimate for the dollar value of the loss, according to the Amherst Fire Department.

“At this time the fire is not suspicious in nature,” the fire department said Saturday evening.

Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman declared a state of emergency on Saturday due to the fires and urged residents to stop all non-essential water use to help conserve water for firefighter operations.

“Over one million gallons of water have been used so far in these efforts, and it will take some days to recover the Town’s water levels,” town officials said in a statement. The state of emergency will allow the town to have access to emergency state or federal funds that may be available to the displaced residents, property owner and town.

Stromgren said that water levels were improving on Sunday morning.

Fire crews were working into Saturday evening to extinguish the flames at 57 Olympia Drive, but were unable to enter the building due to its instability.

Demolition crews were on-site, tearing down the building so that fire crews could reach the areas still on fire, according to the fire department.

The demolition and fire extinguishment were expected to finish sometime Sunday morning.

The fire is under investigation by investigators from the State Fire Marshall’s office, the Amherst Fire Department, and the Amherst Police Department.

The initial fire involved the building under construction at 47 Olympia Drive, which then spread to 57 Olympia Drive due to its intensity and the wind, officials said.

The building under construction at 47 Olympia Drive collapsed during the fire.

A majority of Olympia Place tenants are UMass Amherst students, according to a university statement posted on its website.

In addition to the fire, there were multiple explosions, likely from fuel tanks on the construction site, and one construction crane collapsed, the statement reads.

Firefighters from Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties arrived on Friday to help quell the massive fire.

“The university, the town of Amherst, and the management company for a privately owned apartment building adjacent to the fire are working to support student renters who are impacted,” the university said on its website. “We are grateful for the community’s support for our students.”

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