AMHERST — An Autumn Lane resident who suffered smoke inhalation during a kitchen fire Thursday morning, initially treated at the scene by paramedics, was transported by ambulance to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton as a precaution, according to the Amherst Fire Department.
Six of the eight on-duty firefighters, along with police officers, responded to the South Amherst home at 9:32 a.m., after a 911 call was received by the Amherst Communications Center. Upon arrival they found smoke coming from the windows of a second-floor condominium, leading to the summoning of all off-duty firefighters.
Inside 6 Autumn Lane, crews found a fire on top of a stove that had begun to spread to the overhead cabinets and exhaust fan. The fire was extinguished, and the attic area was checked to make sure the fire had not gone beyond the kitchen’s vent hood.
Due to the damage to the kitchen and smoke damage throughout the dwelling, the building inspector determined occupants could not return until repairs are made. Residents, though, were able to return to the three other units in the building.
The cause of the fire was due to unattended cooking. Firefighters, who cleared the scene at 11 a.m., also determined that the one smoke detector in the unit did not have a battery in it, and thus didn’t alert the occupant to the fire before it grew in size.
During the fire, two other unrelated medical calls in town were handled by mutual aid
ambulances, while the Autumn Lane patient was transported by Hadley’s Action ambulance.
