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KEVIN GUTTING

Unit 86 at the Townehouse of Amherst apartments on Meadow Street in North Amherst was damaged by fire early Sunday morning. The tenants were not home at the time.

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KEVIN GUTTING

Unit 86 at the Townehouse of Amherst apartments on Meadow Street in North Amherst was damaged by fire early Sunday morning. The tenants were not home at the time.

AMHERST - A fire that broke out in a Meadow Street apartment early Sunday morning caused extensive damage, injured one fire captain and displaced approximately 12 tenants in six units at Townehouse of Amherst Apartments.

The fire captain suffered a shoulder injury while fighting the blaze at apartment No. 86, according to a statement released by the Amherst Fire Department. The statement did not identify the fire captain by name, and the Fire Department dispatcher declined to release any additional information. The injury did not require transport to the hospital, but the captain is now on injured leave. No other injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is currently unknown.

The residents of the apartment were not home when the fire broke out. They spent the weekend in Canada on a UMass Ski and Board Club outing, according to Henry Elsemann, who texted his two male neighbors early Sunday morning to inform them of the incident.

"I said, 'You're 86 right? Your house is on fire,'" said Elsemann, a senior at UMass. "They called me in disbelief and were like, 'Are you sure?'"

Elsemann said he, too, was surprised, in part because his neighbors are tidy people. He noted one of the two UMass students is particularly careful about keeping items away from the heater and electrical wires and cords in order.

"When it comes to closing up shop he went by the book," said Elsemann, who congregated with displaced tenants Philip Panaitescu and Karol Gawrych outside of the management building Sunday afternoon. The UMass students said they had belongings they needed in their apartments, which they couldn't get to because the hallway doors were padlocked. Townehouse Management Associates agents returned Elsemann's call at 2:45 p.m. Sunday to say they were gone for the day and to come back at 8 a.m. Monday.

"I'm terribly disappointed," said Elsemann, who said he needed his laptop computer to prepare for a test today. "I mean, that's a bit early to call it a day."

Displaced tenants were allowed to collect "bare essential" belongings, Elsemann said, and then were relocated by management and the Red Cross to local hotels.

Tenants of another apartment reported they smelled smoke in the hallway at 12:19 a.m. Sunday. Emergency responders found fire and smoke coming from the first floor of the two-story building, and forced entry to the apartment. The fire was brought under control approximately 20 minutes after the initial call, according to the statement.

"They started throwing burning furniture out of the window," said Nathaniel Kahler, who lives in the apartment complex. Remnants of a burnt couch were visible Sunday outside the building, which was blocked off with caution tape.

Apartment No. 86 sustained extensive fire damage to the first floor and significant heat and smoke damage to the second floor, according to the department, which didn't have a dollar estimate for the damage Sunday. Emily Howard, UMass junior and Elsemann's girlfriend, said she got a peek inside the apartment from the hallway early Sunday morning.

"Everything was just black," she said.

The first-floor common corridor also has significant heat and smoke damage, but the other apartment units in the building were not damaged, according to the statement. The town's building and electrical inspectors ordered one half of the building closed due to issues with the electrical system, according to the statement.

The Amherst, Northampton, Belchertown fire departments and Amherst Police Department responded to the scene.

Catherine Baum can be reached at cbaum@gazettenet.com.