ERVING – An infant girl died in a house fire that broke out about 3 Tuesday morning 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.
The northwestern district attorney’s office reported this afternoon that the fire “claimed the life of a female infant.” Eight others were in the building during the fire and all escaped, according to the report.
Other details about the victim were unavailable.
The origin and cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Erving Fire and Police Departments and State Police assigned to both the Office of the State Fire Marshal and to the Office of the Northwestern District Attorney.
According to town property records, the wood-frame home is owned by Cynthia and Leonard Clark. At 10:15 a.m., 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.
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 Orange, Turners Falls, Wendell, Northfield and state police – 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.
House fire in downtown Erving just before 3 a.m. Unnamed neighbor said he heard “loud bang” just after that. @TheRecorderNews pic.twitter.com/ttP2Lf2cIV
— Andy Castillo (@AndyCCastillo) November 22, 2016
Currently, the state fire marshal is investigating what caused the fire. 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.”