230 residents displaced after multi-alarm fire hits off-campus housing in Amherst
Over 200 people have been displaced after a three-alarm fire ripped through an off-campus apartment complex near the University of Massachusetts Amherst late Friday night, according to fire officials.
The fire was initially reported at around 8:19 p.m. by 911 callers who reported that a four-story building under construction adjacent to Olympia Place was on fire. The blaze quickly spread to nearby buildings at the apartment complex overnight.
A majority of Olympia Place tenants are UMass Amherst students, according to a university statement posted on its website.
In addition to the fire, there were multiple explosions, likely from fuel tanks on the construction site, and one construction crane collapsed, the statement reads.
A second and third alarm were sounded for mutual aid for towns from Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties. Firefighters were still on scene as of 3 a.m. Saturday.
Tanker trucks were also requested from numerous communities to help boost the water supply. The Red Cross, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the State Fire Marshal's office investigators are also on scene.
A "Task Force" was requested from the state fire mobilization network to send additional units to the fire scene to relieve the crews that have been on scene since the fire was first reported.
There have been no reported injuries. An estimated 230 residents have been displaced," according to the Amherst Fire Department.
"The university, the town of Amherst, and the management company for a privately owned apartment building adjacent to the fire are working to support student renters who are impacted," the university said on its website . "We are grateful for the community's support for our students."
The incident is under investigation.
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