AMHERST — A painting crew working inside a vacant unit at Alpine Commons in Amherst saw flames coming out of a heating vent — the first sign of the fire that quickly destroyed an entire building at the apartment complex Saturday.
No one was injured in the fire, after tenants who were unaware of it were told to flee.
Route 9 was closed at 1:30 p.m. from Stanley Street to Colonial Village.
Fire crews from around the region helped the Amherst Fire Department at the scene of the 133 Belchertown Road blaze, which broke out after noon and quickly engulfed Building 1.
Amherst Fire Chief Tim Nelson said Sunday that he is sure the building will be a total loss, but the official determination will come from the town’s building department within the next few days.
“You don’t repair something like that,” he said.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of Sunday night.
Sixteen tenants were living in the unit this summer and five were home at the time of the fire, according to Gary Rinker, the maintenance manager.
Rinker said that after the painting crew observed flames, he alerted tenants, who had been unaware of the danger.
“We didn’t smell anything and didn’t see any flames,” said Jay Selvan, 23, a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who was living in Apt. 3. “There was nothing.”
“All our stuff was in there,” she added.
The complex, owned by Aspen Square Management, has provided local hotels for the residents to stay in for the short term, according to Nelson.
Two ladder trucks deployed, pouring water down on the structure. At around 2:30 the roof collapsed inward as the sound of breaking glass came from within. The gaping hole at the roofline grew larger as the afternoon progressed.
The state Department of Fire Services Special Operations Rehab Unit arrived on the scene after 3 p.m. to provide aid to firefighters working in the heat.
As of 4 p.m., the scene was still considered an active fire, as crews extinguished “hot spots.”
Later in the afternoon, with the fire quelled, there were concerns about the integrity of one of the structure’s walls. Pieces of the building’s roof could be seen falling in at different points.
Assistant Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren said no estimate was yet available on the value of the damage.
The Amherst Fire Department received mutual aid from Pelham, Hadley and Northampton fire crews as well as a Belchertown ambulance team.
Afternoon temperatures reached 83 degrees with high humidity, and firefighters fought back heat exhaustion in addition to the blaze.
Firefighters took breaks from the heat by rotating in crews from surrounding towns, but at least one firefighter was treated intravenously for heat exhaustion and dehydration while another, from the Hadley Fire Department, was transported to the hospital at around 5:30 p.m. for the same symptoms.
Officials taped off the west side of the building and gave that corner of the building a wide berth because of concerns it could collapse.
Stromgren said the fire claimed the trusses of the building, and “without those, there’s not much holding up the walls.”
The fire, officials said, started either inside a vacant apartment or in the attic above it.
“We think it started in the attic,” said Stromgren, based on preliminary findings. “But we have to investigate before we know that for sure.
“Based on the age of the building and the damage I’d say it’s a total loss,” Stromgren said.
“I don’t know what caused the fire,” said Rinker, who went door to door at the apartments in Building 1, banging on all of them to be sure neither tenants nor workers were inside. “We’ll take care of everyone. We’ve had fires before.”
The building was constructed in the 1970s, officials said, with a largely wooden frame.
Rich Lemon, owner of Practical Painting Services, who was working upstairs when it started, said the wooden structure ignited quickly.
“I always wondered, with all the wood in these buildings, what they’d be like to put out,” Lemon said.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.