AMHERST — Within 30 minutes of getting to the scene of the fire that engulfed an apartment building under construction and quickly spread to the occupied five-story Olympia Place, firefighters were certain that all tenants and visitors had been safely evacuated.
Even though by the end of that early November weekend the building where 230 people had lived was a pile of rubble, Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren said there was success in that all occupants got out and there were no injuries to any firefighters or other public safety personnel.
The speed with which firefighters made sure the building was empty is an important part of the process that allowed them to concentrate all attention on extinguishing the blaze and not be worried about whether any people were at risk.
About two minutes after the first alarm came in, Stromgren said he was on scene and asked emergency dispatch to put out a second alarm and advised the Engine 3 crew to move its truck and equipment back from the fire.
Engine 1’s crew was ordered to make sure the occupied building was cleared. This followed the initial effort by police officers, who had already gone door to door.
“We have the ability to get the master key from the lock box, and crews physically opened every door to get people out,” Stromgren said.
What firefighters found were some stragglers, understandable because while the alarm was sounding after a property manager had pulled it, some didn’t take it seriously.
“They went apartment to apartment and found some people who had not evacuated, in a structure of that size,” Stromngren said.
He explained that for those on the side of the building facing the fire, it was as an inferno and sprinklers activated throughout, discharging 480 gallons per minute. At least 16 sprinklers were shooting out 30 gallons per minute, but those are not designed to contain a fire of that magnitude.
“It was a massive heat load, and the wind was blowing toward 57 Olympia. The entire side of 57 was under attack by that heat,” Stromgren said.
Some windows then failed and fires began starting inside the apartments in proximity to the fire.
“It was so hot that you couldn’t stand there,” Stromgren said.
Those living on the opposite side, even with alarms sounding, were likely unaware of the severity.
Stromgren said he doesn’t know how many of the 230 tenants were at home at the time. Some likely were away for the weekend and others out, such as at the University of Massachusetts hockey game.
The clearing of the building also led to the rescue of a number of cats and a couple of guinea pigs, though the department later learned that some pets had perished.
Dangerous situation
The dangers at the site were evident from the start, with the structure under construction at 47 Olympia Drive quickly going up in flames and eventually falling down, with the focus turning to saving 57 Olympia Drive.
While at five stories Olympia Place would not be classified as a high rise, Stromgren said it was close to a high-rise scenario in terms of putting out the fire.
Firefighters spent three hours inside the building, with those attacking on the fourth and fifth floors going through three or four air bottles during that time, a significant amount, occasionally replenishing the supply.
“They were bringing in air bottles and staging them on the third floor,” Stromgren said.
The hoses the firefighters were using did run dry, so firefighters shut off the sprinkler system because they were tapped into the same pipes, he said. But the system by that point was overwhelmed.
“Everyone’s trying to pull from the same main, and they couldn’t get enough water fast enough,” Stromgren said.
A hose can shoot out 150 to 200 gallons per minute while a ladder truck can pour out 1,000 gallons per minute.
Finally, at 11:30 p.m., an evacuation order was given as the roof started collapsing, with the building burning from the top down.
Firefighters abandoned about $46,000 in equipment, including air bottles, hoses and saws and other departments also lost items.
From then on, it was an exterior attack, mostly with ladder trucks. With the third alarm having been activated, many ladder trucks and tankers were on scene.
At that point, Stromgren said there really wasn’t a need for any more firefighters or personnel, but to just keep the ladder trucks and tankers moving so enough water could be brought to the site to power the deck guns and master streams. That water came from other points in town due to the water shortage on Olympia Drive.
There were only two sides of the structure firefighters could access with one side blocked by the woods and the other by the construction site.
As the incident continued, Stromgren contacted property owner Archipelago Investments to advise them a tear down would be needed.
“By midday Saturday the building had become unstable, and the only way to put the fire out was for it to come down,” Stromgren said.
Associated Wreckers of Springfield was called in, a dangerous operation for its crew, with smoke and flames still coming from the building. The company had to stop Saturday night, resuming when daylight returned, after water was poured on the building throughout the overnight hours.
During the action, two 1,000 gallon propane tanks used to provide heat to the building had broken off and began floating, due to the large amount of water. A company was called in to burn off the remaining gas, spending about 20 hours doing that, with visible flares shooting into the night sky.
“That added more drama,” Stromgren said.
Water woes
The lack of water pressure from the town’s system that developed on Olympia Drive is believed to be unique to that location, Stromgren said.
Unlike similar large mixed-use buildings in the center of town, such as One East Pleasant and 11 East Pleasant, and those on the University of Massachusetts campus, there wasn’t a looped water system that brings water in from multiple sources.
“You can only move so much water down Olympia Drive,” Stromgren said.
That amount of water is sufficient for the needs for those who live in the apartments at Olympia Oaks and the neighboring Village Park, but not to deal with such a large fire.
Stromgren adds that the prevalence of wood construction in large-scale buildings has become much more common in recent years throughout the state and poses some fire risks that had gone away as builders transitioned to steel.
Olympia Place also had a significant attic space, where sprinklers were activated but, like in the apartments, were unable to stem the quick spread of the fire.