GREENFIELD — It has always been Julie Bartlett’s worst fear: seeing a fire break out in or near her downtown family business, Hometown Classic Pizza.
The nightmare became reality when firefighters from Greenfield Fire Territory were called around 5 a.m. Saturday, May 2, to put out a blaze in an apartment above the restaurant at 12 W. Main St., Greenfield.
While no one was injured and the fire didn’t spread to adjoining buildings, the incident was doubly terrifying for Bartlett.
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Not only did the fire start in an apartment above her business but Bartlett’s son, Alec Armstrong, and his girlfriend, Lacey Copeland, lived in an adjoining apartment.
“They heard the alarms going off and grabbed their pets, and they’re the ones who called 911,” Bartlett said.
The couple were heading down the shared staircase to get outside when a nearby window exploded, but they were able to make it out safely.
“It could have been a lot worse, especially downtown because we’ve seen many fires spread and destroy other buildings,” Bartlett said.
The fact the building was occupied with working smoke detectors that woke residents in time was key to preventing catastrophic loss, fire marshal Brian Lott said.
“If this was a business that wasn’t occupied in the middle of the night, it could have been a lot worse,” Lott said.
The first two blocks of West Main Street still harbor remnants of past fires that weren’t caught in time. Parking lots adjacent to Lincoln Square Pancake House, 118 W. Main St.; and Griggsby’s Station restaurant, 110 W. Main St., are spots where historic buildings stood before they were gutted in a series of unrelated fires from 1992 to 2003.
“What we’ve learned through the years is just how dangerous those fires can be,” said Corey Breese, public information officer for the Greenfield Fire Territory. “We got lucky this time.”
Rather than approaching the second floor via the staircase, Breese said, firefighters immediately placed ladders and went through a second floor window with a hose to stop the fire at its origin. This aggressive approach saved valuable time.
“They had it out in about 10 minutes,” Breese said.
The difference between being aggressive and taking a more cautious approach was due to the fact firefighters could see the flames when they first arrived and quickly deduced where the fire was coming from.
That’s important when seconds matter in fighting a fire in an area with several adjoining buildings.
“Had it gone longer before we got there, we could have lost the whole building and maybe more,” Breese said.
The fire was started by careless smoking by another tenant in an upstairs apartment, Lott said. “He was not a careful smoker when he discarded things around the apartment, from what I could see,” Lott said of the preliminary investigation.
The occupant of the apartment, whose cat died in the fire, told officials he had dropped a cigarette into a cushion around 2:30 a.m. While he found the cigarette, investigators think some embers may have remained.
“The origin was an indication it was a slow burning fire,” Lott said.
The restaurant, which underwent renovations last year, suffered extensive water damage, Bartlett said. The water ruined booths, decor and the ceiling.
The apartment where the fire started was destroyed. Bartlett’s son’s apartment has a hole in a wall where firefighters had to break through.
Damage estimates were put at up to $80,000.
Bartlett feels fortunate no one was killed, and she thanked the quick work of firefighters for saving her business, she said. Bartlett also hopes to reopen as soon as they can get the ceiling fixed and the building cleaned.
Customers had been supporting the business throughout the pandemic, Bartlett said. Now, they’ll need even more support to get things back on track so they can once again get back to serving customers.
