GREENFIELD — Early Friday morning, the call came in of a house on fire at 221 Elm St. as a thick black column of smoke could be seen rising in the dawn sky all the way from Main Street.
Fire crews responding to the 6:22 a.m. alarm found a one-story ranch house with heavy flames coming from the right side of the building.
All occupants were reported out of the home and were watching from across the street when firefighters arrived, according to Greenfield Fire Chief Robert Strahan. A woman could be seen consoling a man in a wheelchair wrapped in blankets.
The first engine on the scene attacked the fire from the exterior with water as a hydrant across the street provided a constant, stronger supply of water. Striking a second alarm brought in crews from surrounding communities of Bernardston, Turners Falls, Deerfield, South Deerfield, Erving and Orange. EMTs were on the scene to evaluate the residents of the home.
After knocking down the initial flames, firefighters with air packs entered the home to fight the fire from within, breaking windows to vent the house. Pulling in a hose to extinguish hotspots exposed by tearing into the walls and ceilings with pry bars and fire hooks.
By 7 a.m. the fire was under control, but the house was deemed unlivable because of fire, heat and water damage, according to Strahan, adding that the cause was under investigation.
Elm Street, which had been closed during the fire, has since reopened.