AMHERST — Three residents at a South Amherst apartment complex were displaced from their home, and others living in the building were briefly evacuated, during a fire Thursday evening, according to the Amherst Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren.
Firefighters responded to The Boulders, 188 East Hadley Road, at 8:31 p.m. after the Amherst Communications Center received a call from an alarm company about a fire alarm sounding.
The first fire engine on scene found smoke in the second-floor hallway in Building 145, prompting a summons of off-duty personnel. A fire inside a second-floor apartment was quickly extinguished.
But even with the fire put out, there was extensive smoke and heat damage to the apartment, making it uninhabitable. Those residents were temporarily housed in another apartment by management.
Those in both Buildings 145 and 147 were evacuated for about two hours as the fire was put out and smoke cleared.
Stromgren said the fire appears to have started in the living room, which was being used as a bedroom. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but is not believed to be suspicious.
No one was injured at the scene and both Amherst police officers and the town’s building inspector assisted at the fire scene.
