Michael Bucossi , Fire Chief
Leonard Howard III, Assistant Chief
PRESS RELEASE
Fire between 42 & 50 Elliot St – 05/23/2020 – At 10:26p Central Dispatch received a call reporting a fire between 42 & 50 Elliot St. A 1st alarm assignment consisting of Engine 2, Engine 4 and Ladder 1 responded and upon arrival reported smoke showing from the alley between the two buildings and a possible basement fire. Investigating further a fire was discovered in a wooden roof that covered the stairwell that goes down between 42 & 50 Elliot St with some extension into the basement of 42 Elliot.
At 10:36p the shift captain ordered a 2nd alarm be struck, recalling all Brattleboro Firefighters and bringing all Brattleboro apparatus to the scene. An attack line was stretched down the stairwell and the fire in the roof was quickly extinguished. Entry was forced into the basement of 42 Elliot from the stairwell and a fire around a boarded-up window frame was extinguished. No further extension into the building was found.
40 Elliot St, which contains 5 apartments and an office and is situated over the 42 Elliot St storefront, was checked for residents and smoke as was 50 Elliot St, the Emerson Block. No issues were found in either.
The fire was declared under control at 11:04p There was moderate damage to the roof and no damage to either building. There were no injuries and 40 Elliot were reoccupied after the fire. Hinsdale, NH, Putney and Guilford covered Central Station during the fire and Chesterfield, NH covered Station 2. Brattleboro Police, Brattleboro Water Department and Rescue Inc all assisted at the scene.
The origin and cause of the fire was investigated by the Brattleboro Fire Department Investigation Team and determined to be accidental, careless disposal of smoking materials. The fire was caused by cigarettes thrown earlier in the evening from the fire escape that serves the apartments of 40 Elliot St by a tenant.
