Pittsfield — A resident in her 70s died after being rescued from a house fire on Saturday, January 31.
According to a press release issued by Department of Fire Services Public Information Officer Jake Wark, the city’s Fire Department responded to the fire at 7 Virginia Avenue at around 11:20 p.m.
Wark wrote in his press release that firefighters observed the fire at the front of the building and immediately entered the building to attack the fire and search for occupants.
Upon entering the building they rescued its sole resident who was transported to an area hospital.
The woman, who has not been identified, later died.
The state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
Wark wrote that, despite subzero temperatures and more than a foot of snow on the ground, firefighters on the scene were able to bring the fire under control in 30 minutes.
The fire is being investigated by the city’s Fire Department, Police Department, and state officials.
”Preliminarily, investigators found no evidence that the fire was intentionally set,” Wark wrote. “Based on an examination of the scene, they believe it began in the living room at the front of the home. They found no working smoke alarms.”
In the press release, State Fire Marshal notes that this is the fourth fatal fire this year where investigators discovered that there were no working smoke alarms in the building.”
