A mid afternoon fire burned through a large single family dwelling just outside the center of the City of Holyoke on the afternoon of March 29, 2026 and required resources from five Fire Departments to extinguish.

Holyoke Fire Alarm began receiving calls for 171 Beech Street at 3:55 p.m. and first in crews, arriving 3 minutes later, went on scene with heavy fire burning up the Bravo/Charlie corner of the dwelling and taking hold on the second floor and attic. A second alarm was struck just after four o'clock bringing two additional engines and one ladder to the scene followed shortly thereafter by a special call of an additional engine above the second alarm assignment which added an engine from Chicopee FD to the running card. The heavy volume of fire on the exterior was quickly knocked down but crews then had to chase the fire on the second floor and attic space which had been renovated for occupancy. The renovations proved to be a thorn in the side of the HFD during the fire fight as they created multiple void spaces in the old balloon frame home which allowed the fire to extend vertically with speed and ease. Roughly an hour into the suppression operation, Beech Street Command struck the third alarm to bring a tower from Westfield FD and engines from West Springfield and Westover Air Reserve Base FD's to the scene. In spite of having resources from five departments on scene, crews had to be withdrawn from the building when fire began venting from several different locations and conditions inside became untenable. An aerial master stream and several hand lines were used to darken down the fire from the exterior for nearly an hour before crews re-entered the home to chase hot spots and overhaul the building.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation and the occupant of the home and her pets are being assisted by the Red Cross.