Family unhurt, pictures saved in Springfield fire

A late Wednesday night fire at a four-unit apartment building at 28 Myrtle Street is of undetermined origin, according to Springfield Fire Chief Russell Thompson.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150123/NEWS02/701239895

Published January 23, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Family unhurt, pictures saved in Springfield fire By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — A fire at a three-story apartment building at 28 Myrtle St. has displaced four families, said Springfield Fire Chief Russell Thompson. Thompson said the cause of the fire Wednesday night is undetermined but not considered suspicious. He said a second-floor tenant in the building saw a red glow and wisps of smoke coming from a small hole in the ceiling of his apartment at about 9:30 p.m. and called 911. Thompson said by the time firefighters got to the house, there was a lot of fire at the top of the second-floor stairs and starting to extend into the third-floor attic. There were no injuries to the tenants or firefighters, he said. One family, sleeping when the fire broke out, was escorted by firefighters from the house. Thompson said the house, owned by Walter and Ada Pluss of Springfield, sustained some damage, but he said it could be fixed. He said some of the tenants’ possessions were damaged in the fire. The Plusses had owned the building about seven or eight years, he said. Myrtle Street is a small residential street off Park Street. “There was minimal damage and very minor structural damage,” he said. Thompson said his fire crew was able to save some pictures for the tenants. Firefighters had to rip holes in walls and ceilings to get at the fire, he said. The mansard-roofed apartment house, which Thompson said was “old, old,” had a common attic, but that the fire didn’t get that far. The chief estimated it might take as little as a month before tenants were back in the building. The Green Mountain chapter of the American Red Cross helped the tenants of the building, said Larry Crist, Red Cross spokesman. He said three of the four families decided to stay with family or friends, with the Red Cross putting up one family in a local motel for three days, as well as giving them vouchers for food and transportation. Thompson said he called in extra firefighters because of the potential of the fire to spread rapidly. Firefighters from surrounding towns of Chester, Ascutney, Bellows Falls, Westminster, Proctorsville, Reading and Walpole, N.H., were at the scene. Windsor and Charlestown, N.H., departments covered the Springfield station.