HADLEY — A Route 9 building that has been home to The Massage School, offering a curriculum for those pursuing careers as licensed massage therapists, was destroyed in a fire late Saturday night.
On Saturday around 9 p.m., Hadley firefighters responded to the 3,600-square-foot wood-frame building at 231 Russell St., which was originally constructed in 2001 for the Gervais School of Performing Arts, according to the Hadley Fire Department.
Firefighters from Granby, South Hadley and Northampton were called to help extinguish the blaze, with flames and smoke visible through one side of the roof toward the rear of the building. Route 9 was temporarily closed during the operation, but reopened about four hours later.
“The Hadley Fire Department extends sincere thanks to all responding agencies and personnel who assisted during this challenging incident,” the fire department wrote in a statement on its Facebook page. “Firefighting is inherently dangerous, and the bitter winter cold added additional difficulty to operations. Despite these conditions, responders worked professionally and collaboratively to bring the incident under control and maintain scene safety.”
An immediate cause for the fire was not identified. There were no injuries to anyone on scene, but the department noted the extensive property damage: “We recognize the significant impact this fire has had on the business involved. Our thoughts are with the owner, staff, students and all those affected as they move forward following this loss.”
On Monday morning, the building, located next to Wildwood Barbecue restaurant, was covered in plywood, with fire damage evident on the outside and signs posted on the building by Quality Restoration.
The Massage School was founded by Hadley residents Alexei Levine and Valerie Hood as The Amherst School of Massage Therapy in 2001, with the couple seeing a need for a professional certification program that emphasizes motor learning and technical proficiency. It was previously located in the old Memorial Hall in Easthampton from 2005 until its move in 2023 to the site that in recent years had been used by Fit Together ServiceNet Wellness Center and then 50/50 Fitness/ Nutrition.
The school’s two additional locations are in Boston, which opened in September 2013, and St. Paul, Minnesota, which opened in October 2016.
Andrew Nesi, who became the owner of the school a few weeks ago, sent a note to students, letting them know that the building can’t be used for classes in the near term.
“Because of that, we’ll be relocating our clinic and in-person classes to a temporary space,” Nesi wrote. “Until that’s in place, clinic and in-person classes will remain paused, while our online courses will continue.”
That temporary location and a restart date for in-person classes are not yet known, though.
Nesi also expressed appreciation for the patience of students, clients and teachers, and praised the response from them, as well as town residents.
“You’ve all built something really special here,” Nesi wrote. “This is a disruptive event, but that’s all it is. What can we do but look forward, with optimism and confidence in this thing we’re doing together?”
The fire also reignited local debate over public safety staffing. Firefighters Local 5486 issued a statement on its Facebook page expressing concern about the recent reductions to the fire department, with two full-time firefighters laid off and other positions still vacant as a result of town wide budget cuts.
“Last night, Hadley experienced a structure fire that resulted in a total loss. This is the first total-loss structure fire in town since the layoffs, and it occurred while only one firefighter was on duty. This outcome is not a reflection of effort or dedication — it is a reminder that staffing matters.”
The union also states that when Hadley has operated with two firefighters on duty that battling blazes had been successful.
“In every previous structure fire with two firefighters staffed, crews were able to make timely interior attacks, protect exposures, and ultimately save the building. Fire suppression is a time-critical operation.”
Like the department, the union thanked mutual aid partners and call force members “who responded without hesitation and performed under challenging conditions.”
In addition to the fire departments that responded immediately to the fire, the department also thanked Hadley’s emergency dispatchers, police officers, Department of Public Works employees and the town’s electrical inspector, Action Ambulance, Hatfield Fire, Sunderland Fire, Pelham Fire and Amherst Fire, the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services REHAB Unit , the State Fire Marshal’s Fire Investigative Unit, Massachusetts State Police, University of Massachusetts Police, the state’s Department of Transportation, Eversource and Berkshire Gas.