Springfield firefighters work at the scene of a house fire on Massasoit Place on Thursday night.Updated Thursday at 10:52 p.m. with more details, photo and video
SPRINGFIELD - A fire just before 9 p.m. Thursday night swept through a vacant house at 21-23 Massasoit Place, causing excess of $100,000 damage and forcing the evacuation of residents of houses on either side, a fire official said.
Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said arson investigators will have to determine a cause of the fire in the 2 1/2 story wood frame, but for now it appears very suspicious.
The same building was the scene of a small fire one week earlier when a fire broke out just before 11 p.m. in a room on the second floor, causing $5,000 damage. The cause of that fire has not been determined, but it remains suspicious, Leger said.
No one was injured, but a woman who lived in a house next door was taken to the hospital as a precaution when the smoke irritated a pre-existing breathing condition, Leger said.
When firefighters arrived on scene three minutes after the first 911 call came in at 8:50 p.m., the upper floors of the building were fully involved, and flames could be seen coming out every window and parts of the roof.
The home at 17-19 Massasoit sustained between $10,000 - $15,000 damage when heat melted the vinyl siding, Leger said.
Occupants of 17-19 Massasoit and 25-27 Massasoit were evacuated as a precaution, Leger said.
Firefighters shut down Massasoit Place, directly across from the entrance to Mercy Hospital on Carew Street, as they tried to contain the fire with aerial platforms and pumper trucks.
Springfield Firefighters Battle a House Fire on Massasoit Pl.
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