Arson fire quickly spreads throughout multi-family building

On May 5th, 2011 at 1:06 A.M., firefighters were dispatched for a report of a fire in the street at 52-54 Cherry St. Before leaving their stations, Fire Alarm advised all responding companies this was in fact a structure fire with numerous calls coming in. First arriving company Engine 2, led by FF Kurt Johnson, initiated an interior attack of the fire, stretching a line into the center stairwell leading to the second floor. Heavy fire could be seen coming from walls on both sides of the stairs as well as the second floor. Despite a valiant effort by fire crews to stop the spread of fire throughout the balloon-framed house, all units were ordered out of the building when fire began venting out of the attic on all sides. All occupants were confirmed to be safely out of the building as fire began attacking the underside of the roof, eventually collapsing. Two large apartment buildings to the north and east of the fire building were protected with master streams while Tower 1 and Truck 2 began aerial master stream operations. Several ground monitors were also put into operation to eventually bring the fire under control. WMECO and Berkshire Gas were on scene to control utilities and the American Red Cross responded to assist the four families displaced from the fire, fifteen civilians in all. One firefighter suffered a minor leg injury and no civilians were injured. Fire Investigators found the cause of the fire to be intentional and the investigation is ongoing.