TURNERS FALLS — A fire on a second-floor porch at 168 Montague City Road was quickly extinguished Monday afternoon, saving the three-apartment structure.
According to Turners Falls Fire Chief John Zellmann, a passerby noticed the porch fire and combated it with a fire extinguisher. Zellmann arrived and used a second fire extinguisher to knock down the flames while crews used water to douse the area, then tore into the walls to ensure the fire hadn’t spread. Damage appeared to be limited to the exterior.
Brittni Johnson, who lives in the second-floor apartment where the fire occurred, was alerted to the incident when she received a call from her landlord. She had just left the residence with her husband, Richard Johnson, and their four children, ages 8, 6, 3 and 1.
While Richard Johnson stayed with the children, Brittni Johnson returned to the scene. She said she did not know how the fire had started, adding that her husband had been smoking on the porch, but he was certain he had put his cigarette butt into a metal can. Johnson lamented they had just remodeled their living room.
Besides the Turners Falls Fire Department, firefighters from Greenfield, Montague Center and Erving, as well as South County EMS, responded. Zellmann said the Bernardston Fire Department was responding, but was diverted to another call in Greenfield.
