TURNERS FALLS — A second-alarm fire destroyed a Sunset Drive garage that contained various types of ammunition on Tuesday morning, igniting the gunpowder in the cartridges of an unknown number of wayward projectiles and forcing emergency personnel to cordon off adjacent streets.
Kyle Cogswell, the Turners Falls Fire Department’s deputy chief, said his firefighters were dispatched to 10 Sunset Drive shortly before 8 a.m. and found a garage engulfed in flames, with the fire extending into the main portion of the house.
“And extensive ammunition rounds were going off at that time,” he told reporters at the scene. “Crews had a nice knockdown of the fire with an extensive amount of water and really kept the fire in the garage and just inside a portion of the home.”
Cogswell said he did not believe errant ammunition caused any property damage.
“I’m sure it was very nerve-racking for all the homeowners in the area, [as well as for] the firefighters that were arriving that needed to do their job but were impacted by this. Not an ideal situation,” the deputy chief continued. “One bullet did fly approximately 75 yards and was found quite a distance away from the home.”
At roughly 9:45 a.m., Cogswell said the danger of errant ammunition rounds had “lessened significantly.” He said firefighters were searching the property for hotspots to extinguish.
Cogswell said the cause of the fire, which is believed to have originated in the garage, is under investigation by his department, the Montague Police Department and Massachusetts State Police.
One firefighter was taken to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield for minor injuries and homeowner Chris Pervere declined transportation after being evaluated by medical personnel.
Pervere said the involved garage stored various types of ammunition rounds and loose gun parts. He said he used to be a collector but has since given away or sold most of his firearms.
Pervere advised he has somewhere safe to stay, as the fire also destroyed his living room and kitchen.
“Front door’s gone, windows are gone, carport’s gone,” he said.
He managed to move his red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck away from the property, but the vehicle’s exterior plastic components had been visibly warped by the fire’s heat.
Due to the particularly dangerous scenario, emergency crews blocked traffic at Sunset Drive’s intersection with Turnpike Road and cordoned off Autumn Lane, which connects Oakman Street to Sunset Drive.
Fire departments from Erving, Gill, Greenfield, Northfield, Amherst and Brattleboro, Vermont, responded to the scene, along with Northfield EMS and the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, which brought a Special Operations truck. The Sunderland Fire Department provided coverage of the Turners Falls station and the South Deerfield Fire District covered Greenfield’s station.
