AMHERST — On Sunday, May 11, 2025, the Amherst Fire Department received a 911 call from a resident at 69 South Pleasant Street, a mixed-use residential/commercial building, reporting a fire on the 4th floor’s rear porch.
According to a statement from Amherst’s Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren, a box alarm was sounded for all on and off-duty Amherst firefighters.
When crew first arrived on scene, they were met with heavy smoke coming from the 4th floor porch, which was enclosed and in the rear of the building.
“Due to the older construction of the building the fire quickly spread down to the 3rd floor porch, and up to a void space below the roof, and horizontally across and into the back of the building,” Chief Stromgren said.
A second alarm was sounded and crews worked to extinguish the fire from the interior of the building while a ladder truck was used to extinguish the fire on the porches and to access the roof to extinguish the fire there.
Chief Stromgren said the fire was declared under control in about two hours but crews remained on scene until 9:00 p.m. searching for and extinguishing hot spots.
The building has several businesses on the first floor and apartments on the three floors above. At the time of the fire, nine apartments had been rented to two dozen residents, mostly students, most of whom were home at the time of the fire and have since been displaced. The building sustained significant damage to the rear of the building, mostly to the upper floors where the apartments are located, and it is currently uninhabitable, according to Chief Stromgren.
No one was injured in the blaze.
“Electricity was restored to the businesses after the fire,” Chief Stromgren said. “The Amherst building and electrical inspectors were on scene, and are working with the building and business owners, also on scene, to work out a plan for when the businesses can reopen. The apartments will be uninhabitable for an unknown duration.”
The Red Cross was on scene and assisted residents with finding housing for the night.
The Amherst Fire Department was assisted on scene by the Belchertown Fire Department as well as the fire departments in Hadley, Northampton, and Granby. The Pelham Fire Department provided station coverage at the Central Fire Station.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the Amherst police and fire departments as well as the State Fire Marshall’s Office.
