Fire in the Hole

28 Hobart Lane on right
On Thursday September 13, just after high noon, Amherst Fire Department responded to a basement fire in apartment unit #28  on Hobart Lane, notorious party street and home of the infamous "Hobart Hoedown".

Fortunately the call came in at the perfect time --if there is such a thing for a structure fire -- as first responders were not overwhelmed with ETOH calls (alcohol poisoning), thus AFD quickly put down the blaze.

Since the "three bedroom" unit shares a large building with five other units, had AFD not caught the fire in time, the results could have been catastrophic -- especially if the blaze had started 12 hours later in the late evening of "Thirsty Thursday" when the building would have been packed with distracted students.
According to Lisa Queenin, UMass Director of Community Relations,  "The Dean of Students office and Residential Life are working with the students to make sure the five students have housing and the support services they need in the wake of the fire."

Note the number:  Five students.  Yes, a violation of Amherst zoning bylaw forbidding more than four unrelated housemates.

On Friday the morning after the fire, according to Amherst Police Department logs:

"Firefighter Mike Roy (Fire Prevention Officer) received information that Lincoln Realty had warned the residents that an inspection was imminent and that they needed to assist in hiding code violations. I assisted with contacting the DA's office and the Clerk of Courts seeking an administrative warrant to enter the apartment for inspection."

On the day  or even evening of the blaze, the fire department could have entered the building for an inspection under MGL 148 Section 4, but because 24 hours had passed they needed the administrative warrant, as the owner (Kathryn Grandonico) was not being overly cooperative.

According to Building Commissioner Rob Morra that inspection was delayed until Monday afternoon. And because of 4th Amendment concerns the "administrative warrant" only applied to the damaged apartment and adjoining units on either side (three total) rather than the entire 14 unit complex.

Evidence suggests an extra bedroom in the basement of those three units inspected on Monday.

The entire 14 unit complex is assessed at $1.5 million or $30,000 in property tax overhead, although it's quite possible those extra 14 tenants (if indeed all the units have an extra tenant) would about cover that.

A good deal for the landlord ... unless of course one of them overburdens an electrical circuit.

The back story, told in emails

Gilreath Manor, built in 1982, does have vertical firewalls between units. Fire however tends to move in an upward direction and would quickly get into the attic above the firewalls to engulf other units.