Senior housing fire sends two to hospital

An early-morning fire at the Huber Building in downtown Springfield sent two residents of the senior housing project to the hospital, and caused $500,000 in damage.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150822/NEWS02/708229923

Cleanup specialists work at the scene of a fire at the Huber Building senior facility in Springfield on Friday. Photo: Photo by Len EmeryPublished August 22, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Springfield: Senior housing fire sends two to hospital By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — Two residents of a senior housing building were taken to Springfield Hospital early Friday after a fire broke out in a fourth-floor apartment. A resident of that apartment in the Huber Building where the fire started is expected to be fine, according to Bill Morlock, executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority, which owns the senior housing project. “It’s our understanding that she is OK,” said Morlock. He said Friday morning a preliminary investigation by the state fire marshal’s office indicated the resident fell asleep while smoking. Joshua Maxham, an assistant state fire marshal, said the woman had minor burns on her feet. He said the cause of the fire, which did an estimated $500,000 in damage, was undetermined but he suspected it was caused by smoking materials. He warned people to be cautious about disposing of smoking materials, especially around bottled oxygen. The resident was found behind the couch in her apartment. Fire Chief Russell Thompson said a second resident was taken to Springfield Hospital for treatment. Neither the chief nor Morlock said they had specific information on the condition of the hospitalized residents because of privacy restrictions. Maxham said he interviewed the woman with burned feet at the hospital, and she told him she wasn’t using her oxygen while she smoked. She had no burns on her face, he said, which usually is the case if smoking and oxygen are mixed. Maxham said the cause of the fire was undetermined because he couldn’t make the ruling “100 percent” that the fire was caused by smoking. The Huber Building, which has 60 apartments, has signs posted outside declaring it a smoke-free building. Maxham said new residents can’t smoke in their rooms, but tenants who lived there before the policy was adopted were exempt. Another resident of the building, Richard Farren, whose apartment was next to the fire-damaged apartment, said he was awakened by an extremely loud alarm. Residents are told to stay in their apartments during an alarm, he said, but were then evacuated by the fire department. Water seeped into Farren’s apartment from the sprinklers, which drenched his neighbor’s apartment, he said. Farren said the apartments that look out onto Main Street are efficiency apartments, while the apartments in the back of the building have separate bedrooms. Thompson said residents were evacuated and sheltered at the nearby Congregational Church. The American Red Cross responded to help the residents. Daniel Lavilette, regional disaster program manager for the American Red Cross, said a shelter was set up across Main Street at the church, and the residents were served breakfast and lunch. Lavilette said he expected most people would be able to go back to their apartments Friday. He said the Red Cross would help the resident whose apartment was the source of the fire. Morlock said while the building’s sprinkler system contained the fire to the woman’s apartment, there was extensive water damage to the building and 12 apartments on the north side of the building were affected. Three of those affected apartments were vacant, and another resident was away. Later in the day, he said two or three of the residents had returned to their apartments, which were still without electricity. He said the other tenants had gone to stay with family or friends until the electricity is turned back on to the north end of the building. He said the earliest the electricity can be inspected and restored is Monday. Morlock, who as head of the housing authority is the town’s largest landlord, with hundreds of apartments under his control, said he recommended that the tenants go somewhere else. He said the woman whose feet were burned had been a tenant for three years. He declined to give her name. Springfield firefighters responded to the alarm around midnight, and called Morlock shortly before 1 a.m. He said the fire department evacuated all 60 apartments in the building until they were sure that the fire was contained. He said many area fire departments and ambulances responded to assist Springfield.