Monday Fire Part of What Chief Fears is Growing Trend

Amherst Fire officials are concerned about what appears to be a growing trend after an early morning fire Monday damaged a home at 17 Old Milford Road.

The fire call came in at 2:39 a.m. and upon arrival of fire personnel, they found a working fire. The homeowners said they’d built a fire the night before and awoke hours later to the smoke detectors sounding and smoke coming from the wall.

Everyone was out of the home and due to the fact that the smoke detectors were working, which helped catch the fire early, and the fact that the chimney was on an exterior wall, the damage was contained to a single wall and the home was habitable, Fire Chief Mark Boynton said. 

But there is an underlying concern, Boynton said Monday afternoon, as  this is the fourth fire in a year that has started due to an improperly installed fireplace. All four of the homes were built in the 1960s or 70s when a lack of fire codes and/or enforcement of codes during the building boom allowed many Amherst homes to be built without the proper separation between combustible materials and heat sources. 

“I am very concerned that a number of these hazards are likely to exist in Amherst,” Boynton said in a press release. “What we are seeing are homes where wood framing materials such as pine 2x4’s and plywood are directly behind the fire place, in direct contact with the brick with no air space to allow the materials to cool. Without the space the materials can ignite and smolder in the walls undetected until the fire becomes large enough to cause major damage.” 

During a phone interview, Boynton said in this case the homeowners were lucky. A fire on Amherst Street last year, caused by the same issue, was much larger because the chimney was in the center of the home. The fire climbed the walls and destroyed the second floor, he said.

Boynton said the best thing residents can do to make sure their homes are up to code and not presenting similar danger is to have heating appliances, fireplaces and chimneys cleaned and inspected annually. The proper spacing between the brick surface and the combustible surface is a minimum of 2 inches.

As with Monday's fire, working smoke detectors are vital in minimizing damage and fire related injuries. For more information on how to determine if your home is safe, contact the Amherst Fire Department at 673-1545 or building officials at 673-6041.