BRATTLEBORO — A faulty ventilation fan motor in a bathroom caused a two-alarm fire at a three-story apartment house at 45 Chestnut St. on Jan. 31.
According to Brattleboro Fire Chief Michael Bucossi, the first alarm was called in to the department at 12:53 p.m. Three minutes later, Brattleboro Police arrived on the scene and reported heavy smoke coming from the rear of the building and a second alarm was struck.
One of the occupants of the building told the officer in charge of the fire scene, Brattleboro Fire Capt. Dave Emery Jr., that a bathroom off the kitchen on the first floor was on fire.
Brattleboro fire crews brought the fire under control in about half an hour, according to Buccossi. No injuries were reported, and every one who was in the building at the time of the fire escaped safely. There were working smoke detectors throughout the building.
Assisting the BFD at the fire scene were the Keene, New Hampshire, Fire Department as well as Rescue Inc., the Brattleboro Department of Public Works, Brattleboro Utilities Division, and Green Mountain Power. Mutual aid crews from Putney, Guilford, and Hinsdale and Chesterfield, New Hampshire, covered the Brattleboro stations during the fire.
Bucossi said there were six occupants between the three apartments, including an infant and a five-year-old on the first floor.
He said the first-floor apartment received extensive fire, smoke, and water damage and is uninhabitable, and the occupants are staying with family and are being assisted by the Red Cross. The second and third floors received minor smoke damage, and the occupants were able go back into their apartments.
According to Bucossi, the BFD Investigation Team did an origin and cause investigation after the fire was put out, and found that the fire originated in a bathroom on the first floor and was caused by the ventilation fan motor.
The building is owned by Michael Wachtel of Holly Springs, North Carolina.