MONROE — Firefighters from North Adams to Greenfield and numerous towns in between helped quell a stubborn three-alarm fire at 117 Readsboro Road on Wednesday morning.

At least a dozen fire departments battled the blaze in a building that housed two apartments and a storefront, with firefighters pulling water from a fire hydrant, the town’s reservoir and connecting more than quarter mile of hoses to a dry hydrant near the canal down Readsboro Road. The road was closed in both directions during the fire.

Owner Bayard Austin was the only occupant of the building at the time as he lives in one of the apartments and also owns the building across the street at 2 Depot St. Austin called in the fire at around 11 a.m. and was able to escape with his dog, though a cat remained unaccounted for.

According to Austin, the fire started in the kitchen after a cardboard box was left on the stove. As he handed out water bottles to those battling the blaze, he praised the efforts of the firefighters, saying that they were “doing a wonderful job, amazing.”

Monroe Fire Chief Bruce Lescarbeau said crews were working to extinguish the blaze from the exterior so “we can get guys on the inside to do an overhaul, looking for hotspots.” The fire was declared under control at around 2:30 p.m.

Responding fire departments included Monroe, North Adams, Rowe, Florida, Charlemont, Buckland, Shelburne, Colrain, Bernardston and Greenfield, as well as Readsboro and Whitingham in Vermont. Northfield provided station coverage in Shelburne Falls. National Grid was on hand to cut power to the area and Northern Berkshire EMS was standing by. Rowe Police and Massachusetts State Police also responded, as well as the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Reach Paul Franz at pfranz@recorder.com or 413-930-4128.