NEWSPAPER & ARCHIVE
Benning W. De La Mater
Wednesday, September 13 PITTSFIELD - A blaze that drew dozens of firefighters and nearly 100 spectators to an abandoned house on Columbus Avenue burned into the night yesterday.
Officials say foul play may be to blame.
Calls of a fully involved structure fire at 363 Columbus Ave. flooded into the city's dispatch center shortly after 9:30 p.m.
When firefighters arrived, they entered the rickety-looking home believing that children may have been inside, said Chief James Sullivan.
"We've had reports lately that children have been playing inside," he said. "When they didn't find anyone, they got out quick."
A condemned sign -- a red box with a white "X" drawn through the middle -- was marked on the front, alerting rescue workers that the interior of the house lacked staircases and was a risk to collapse.
Firefighters doused the roof of the home with thick streams of water from at least six different positions around the home. One firefighter aimed a blast through the third-floor window while another methodically moved a ladder hose back and forth across the facade.
Sullivan said the fire was contained to the second and third floors. Streams of water entering windows eventually blasted through the roof, throwing a wet cascade on some of the spectators, some of whom went running.
A young boy screamed, "Oh (expletive)," when a piece of the roof blew off and slid down the structure.
Tammy-May Farron and her daughter Tina walked a few blocks to the scene when they learned of the blaze.
"I could see the flames from Linden Street," Farron said. "They were shooting up in the sky."
Tina, 13, said she knows teenagers in the area who use the abandoned home as a hangout.
"A few high schoolers smoke pot in there," she said.
A mesmerized Austin Wells, 7, stood just feet from a fire truck, his eyes focused on the event. "My mom's letting me stay up to watch," he said. "It's cool."
Residents who live across the street said the house has been empty for years. Some held video recorders or cell phones and recorded the happenings. Others brought beers to the scene. Some brought their dogs.
Sullivan called the false-brick exterior of the home "gasoline siding," because of its tinderlike qualities.
"We've been waiting for this place to go up for years," he said.
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