A two-alarm fire that began after hours on Friday night has left a Massachusetts gym closed until further notice.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that first responders were called to the scene of the Hampshire Athletic Club after a 911 call reported heavy smoke billowing from the building. Assistant fire chief Lindsay Stromgren said that nine on-duty firefighters initially responded to the call, and that eventually crews from neighboring areas were also called out to the scene.
Officials said that the blaze appears to have begun in the facility’s laundry room, and eventually spilled out into the lobby area.
As firefighters extinguished the blaze, the facility’s roof was reportedly cut open to allow smoke and heat to vent. The building’s gas and electricity services were shut off as crews worked to douse the flames.
Nobody was in the building at the time of the fire, and nobody was seriously injured — though one firefighter was treated for exhaustion and released.
“It has extensive damage on the first floor, but no real structural damage,” Stromgren told the Gazette of the damage to the building. “It gutted the first floor, lobby, office and cardiovascular room.”
The club posted on its website that it would be closed until further notice. Meanwhile, members were invited to visit a sister facility, the Northampton Athletic Club, while the HAC is closed.
