AMHERST — A blaze that damaged the porch of a multi-family home in the town’s Cushman neighborhood early Saturday morning remains under investigation, said officials with the Amherst Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to the 99 Bridge St. building at 5:16 a.m. after getting two 911 calls from the tenants. Smoke from the fire caused the alarm to sound, said Assistant Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren.

Two engines with firefighters and paramedics were dispatched to the scene and off-duty personnel were summoned.

All residents in the building, which is known as the Keet House and is owned and managed by the Amherst Housing Authority, safely escaped the building. No injuries were reported.

The fire burned under and over the porch floor. It damaged a porch column, some siding, a window and door, Stromgren said.

Firefighters knocked down the fire with a hose line and cut the porch open with saws so the still smoldering wood could be doused. The building also was ventilated.

Tenants were allowed to return to their apartments less than two hours later.

Stromgren said investigators believe the careless disposal of smoking materials sparked the fire, though that has yet to be confirmed.

“They’re still continuing to look at it,” Stromgren said.

Bridge Street was closed for about two hours as one of the department’s supply hoses blocked the roadway.

In addition to Amherst Fire Department personnel, local police officers and the town’s building inspector responded to the scene.

The original Keet House was destroyed by a fire in the 1980s and was rebuilt in 1988.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.

 

]]>