Firefighters from 13 towns were called to an early morning fire in which three people were injured at 10 West Main St. in the center of Erving Tuesday, around 3 a.m., Nov. 22, 2016. 
Firefighters from 13 towns were called to an early morning fire in which three people were injured at 10 West Main St. in the center of Erving Tuesday, around 3 a.m., Nov. 22, 2016. 


ERVING – A female infant died in an early-morning house fire that broke out sometime after 2 a.m. Tuesday on Route 2.

Three other people were taken to Baystate Franklin Medical Center with injuries suffered in the house fire at 10 West Main St. in the center of town. Nine people were in the residence at the time, according to Mary Carey, spokeswoman for the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death, Carey said, and the origin and cause of the fire will be determined by the Massachusetts Office of Fire Services.

According to town property records, the wood-frame home is owned by Cynthia and Leonard Clark. At 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, a spokeswoman at Baystate Franklin said they were in the hospital, “being treated,” but didn’t say how bad the injuries were. It wasn’t immediately clear who the third person was.

Several local residents have began collecting clothing donations and other items for the homeowners, who they said have been longtime foster parents and welcomed many children into their home.

Kiara Banas of Lake Pleasant, who organized a clothing drive with the help of her mother, Tami, said she has known Cynthia and Leonard Clark for years. She said she first met the couple through a friend of hers who was one of their foster children. As a teenager, Banas said she was put into foster care and her foster parents were also friends with the family.

“They’re really, really nice people,” Banas said. “Cindy, a little over 10 years ago, she bought me school supplies just because I didn’t have any. She’s always been a giving person and took in kids and helped them.”

Tami Banas, who has been helping her daughter collect donations, said the response from the community has been fantastic. The two have been using Facebook to spread the word.

“My phone has been blowing up like crazy,” she said.

She said the couple specifically needs clothing for their 16-year-old son, who got out of the house only with what he was wearing, as well as women’s shirts in sizes small through extra-large, pants in sizes 9/10 and 16, and girls’ clothing in size 5T. They’re also collecting gift cards for the family, so the Clarks can buy whatever else they need when the time comes.

“I want to put some clothes on their backs and shoes on their feet, and get them so they’re not cold,” Tami Banas said. “Thanksgiving is two days away, this is horrible.”

Items can be dropped off at Kiara Banas’ house, 17 Turner St. in Lake Pleasant, or on Tami Banas’ front porch at 164 ½ Conway St. in Greenfield. 

Andrea Hurd of Greenfield, who said she knows the family indirectly through some of the children they foster, has also been collecting donations for the Clarks.

After putting word out on Facebook Tuesday morning, she raised $100 throughout the day — enough buy three outfits for one of the children and several shirts — and also received other clothing donations. 

“This family has absolutely nothing at this point in time, and it’s just the fact of helping them start over,” she said. “We always pull together as a community.”

At the scene around 8:15 a.m., Erving Fire Chief Philip Wonkka said firefighters arrived and found the one and a half story house engulfed in flames, with three residents already outside. They were taken to the hospital.

After arriving at 3:47 a.m., Wonkka said, town firefighters quickly set up a drop-tank “pumper and tanker (water) shuttle operation,” with at least 2,000 feet of hoseline stretching under a railroad underpass, connecting to a fire hydrant.

Soon after, police shut down Route 2, with traffic detoured north into Northfield between Mountain Street and Church Street.

The situation was raised to a “second alarm.” Other departments, including Turners Falls, Warwick and Northfield – which came to help with its ladder truck – were called in for mutual aid.

Wonkka said the fire was too hot for firefighters to get inside the house, noting that it took “hours” for emergency workers to get the fire under control at least in part because “cold weather did inhibit it.”

One West Street neighbor described waking up to see flames licking up into the early morning darkness just before 3 a.m., over a “chaotic but controlled” scene where firefighters from 13 towns labored long into the morning. Another awoke to a “loud bang” that sounded like a car crash, and smelled smoke.

By 8 a.m., Route 2 had been re-opened, but the scene was still crowded with firefighters. Wonkka, while standing in front of the blackened house – a crater-like hole burned through the roof – explained that firefighters were still working to extinguish hotspots. About an hour later, responders could be seen draining and rolling hose, and picking up other equipment. 

During the fire, a rehabilitation trailer was called in, along with a chaplain.

Orange Police Department along with State Police were called to help with traffic control. A backhoe was also parked in the yard to help with the investigation.

Across the street, Vicki Fellows, who owns Pocket Saver Market, opened about an hour early to give emergency responders a place to warm up and get food.

Fellows thanked emergency responders for their work at the scene, and said “I’ll do anything for firefighters, they’re out there risking their lives.”