Commerical Structure Fire Draws Aid From Four Towns and Two Counties

Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on September 12, 2026, an explosion startled Fire Chief Richard Fasoli in his home in Southampton, Mass. and it was at that moment he knew, his Saturday night was about to get a lot more exciting and for not a good reason. Six minutes later, the Chief and his men were at the scene of a single story commercial building located at 77 Pequot Road that was fully engulfed in fire. Southampton crews, along with mutual aid from Westfield, Holyoke, Easthampton, Barnes Air National Guard base and Westover Air Reserve Base set about a defensive attack on the fire which was destroying an over the road truck repair shop. Multiple explosions were heard from inside the building which were believed to be from gas powered tools and torches as well as fuel. Due to the volume of fire on arrival, no interior attack was attempted but rather multiple hand lines along with Easthampton Ladder 1's aerial master stream were utilized to extinguish the fire and contain it to the building of origin. While the cause of the fire is believed to be accidental, investigators were still searching for the point of origin as of the writing of this article.